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Modern reproductive technology is challenging dusty laws on the books regarding entitlement to benefits, now that a man need not be alive to father a child. The current beef is over whether children conceived from frozen sperm after the father’s death are eligible for Social Security benefits.

The two cases current in the news involve two mothers, Lauren Woodward of Massachusetts and Maria Kolacy of New Jersey. Both women gave birth to twins following their husbands’ deaths from leukemia. Due to the threat of sterility from chemotherapy, prior to treatment and their deaths, both husbands had their sperm frozen.

Woodward’s first dose of reality came when the hospital informed her that it wouldn’t list Warren Woodward as the father on the birth certificates. It wasn’t until after an Essex Probate and Family Court judge ruled in Woodward’s favor and ordered the birth certificates amended.

Following the ruling, the Social Security Administration still refused to pay benefits. In the administration’s opinion Warren Woodward was a sperm donor and not a legal father since his death ended his marriage to Lauren Woodward, making the children ineligible for survivors’ benefits.

The administration’s refusal to pay prompted Woodward to take her case to federal court. It was the decision of US District Judge Rya Zobel to seek the opinion of the state Supreme Judicial Court since Social Security benefits are paid according to state inheritance law. The hearing is set for September.

Kolacy’s children have been denied benefits twice now since 1999. Her next step is in a US District Court. Kolacy’s lawyer said that there are at least seven posthumously conceived children currently receiving benefits.

Woodward and Kolacy have become legal crusaders and medical pioneers in their battle for the benefits of their children. It’s a matter of time that the laws will be modified, observers say. The question is, where will the line be drawn pertaining to benefits? Will entitlement to benefits stop with social security or will it spill over into insurance arena? One thing for sure, though, cryopreservation of sperm will be keeping the courts busy for some time.