New Delhi: Ellidy Pullin, an Australian model, has her husband’s baby fifteen months after the Olympic snowboarder died in an accident, New York Post reported.
Alex Pullin, nicked name Chumpy, drowned while spearfishing at the age of 32 in 2020.
Death snatched him away when the couple, who were together for nearly a decade, had been trying for a baby.
The 31-year-old Ellidy said on a podcast that that Chumpy was ‘The happiest, fittest person’ but ‘He just never came home that day.”
The Winter Olympian died from a shallow-water blackout which occurs when trying to hold breath for too long.
Following the devastating loss, Ellidy decided to fulfil their dream of having a baby together and explored possibility of posthumous sperm retrieval at the suggestion of friends and relatives.
Six months after his death, Ellidy underwent her first round of in vitro fertilization using her late husband’s sperm.
Following two rounds of IVF she gave birth to Minnie Alex Pullin in October 2021.
Post-death sperm retrieval is all about removing sperm from deceased or brain-dead males.
Dr Priyanka Suhag, Consultant, Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the CK Birla Hospital, Delhi, said the procedure should be carried out 24–36 hours after the death.
‘Many techniques are used, including aspiration with a needle, electroejaculation—a method that stimulates ejaculation—and surgical retrieval from the epididymis or testicles,’ she was quoted as saying.
After recovering sperm, it is cryopreserved, or frozen for later use and conception is achieved through vitro fertilization (IVF), in which the sperm fertilizes an egg in a lab environment.
Posthumous conception, which was once highly condemned by religious and medical organisations, is now becoming popular.