Abstract / Summary
Abstract Research issues. The demographic crisis has deepened since the onset of the full-scale war in Ukraine. This is evidenced by official statistics on the birth rate, which represents the lowest figure recorded during the years of independence. Under martial law, preserving the reproductive potential of Ukraine’s Defenders acquires particular significance, driven not only by the need to ensure state guarantees in the sphere of human reproductive rights but also by the moral duty of the state towards citizens who, risking their lives and health daily, stand in defence of Ukraine’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Israeli experience, tempered by prolonged conflict from the ‘Swords of Iron’ operation in 2023 to the subsequent stages of 2025–2026, has demonstrated that in the conditions of total war, posthumous reproduction is transformed from a private medical matter into a strategic tool for national preservation. However, a full adoption of the Israeli model, which is primarily based on the concept of ‘presumed consent’, is not possible for Ukraine in the context of its international obligations – specifically through the prism of Council of Europe bioethical standards, primarily the Oviedo Convention and the EU acquis communautaire, which is critical for Ukraine’s European integration course. Novelty of the study/Results. Therefore, at the intersection of these two paradigms – the Israeli military model and European legal doctrine – we propose a unique, innovative Ukrainian model based on Israeli operational efficiency during extreme wartime conditions, while simultaneously anchored in state guarantees and European principles of personal autonomy and voluntary informed consent. This has enabled us to propose a pathway for resolving existing challenges by transforming advanced international experience into Ukrainian legislative practice, taking into account the current wartime realities of Ukraine and its post-war recovery against the backdrop of an acute demographic crisis. Methodology. The study of the legal regulation of posthumous reproduction issues was conducted through a comparative analysis of national laws, regulatory guidelines and clinical protocols (primarily from Israel, Italy and the USA). The research also incorporates judicial rulings, official publications issued by national health authorities and bioethics committees, as well as relevant academic literature and global clinical practice in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), primarily used in infertility treatment. In particular, the method of institutional modelling was applied, which allowed for the justification of a mechanism for its effective implementation into Ukrainian legislation, considering international norms and Ukraine's strategic course towards integration into the European legal space. This research builds upon the author’s previous findings regarding the private-law aspects of ART (2025) and digital infrastructure for the State Registry of Consents (2026). Research objective. The objective of this article is to investigate, based on international legal comparison, the prospects for building an effective modern Ukrainian model of legal regulation for human posthumous reproduction. Conclusion. The proposed model, by demonstrating the conformity of the national legal system with international human rights standards, offers a practical toolkit for overcoming the acute demographic crisis through the preservation of the nation’s reproductive potential, primarily that of Ukraine’s Defenders, as well as civilians facing complex medical prognoses. Key words: Posthumous reproduction, reproductive rights, post-mortem retrieval, biological parenthood, personal autonomy, prospective autonomy, presumed consent, informed consent, bioethics, European integration, Ukrainian legislation, State Registry of Consents.Preprint of a manuscript currently submitted for peer review to the "Medicine and Law" journal.