Diggers getting newlife policy

AUSTRALIAN soldiers going to Afghanistan are freezing their sperm for their wives or girlfriends to use if they are killed or injured in combat.

AUSTRALIAN soldiers going to Afghanistan are freezing their sperm for their wives or girlfriends to use if they are killed or injured in combat.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that 39 soldiers have stored their sperm at IVF clinics across Australia in the past year.

The fertility industry decided to offer free sperm storage after it was revealed in February that the Department of Defence refused to fund the practice for soldiers who did not have fertility problems.

IVF Australia's Professor Peter Illingworth, a specialist fertility obstetrician, said it was perfectly sensible for soldiers to freeze their sperm before they entered a war zone.

"We have quite a few soldiers who bank sperm for that reason," he said.

"The legalities are simple: we get the male partner to make a written declaration of what he wants done with it.

"Under ethical guidelines and NSW law, you cannot assume that because someone has banked sperm, they want it used after they die."

Felix Sher, the father of Private Gregory Sher, 30, a Special Forces commando who was killed in a rocket attack in Uruzgan Province in January, 2009, said sperm storage was a wonderful idea for Diggers' families.

He said he was saddened to think of the children his son would never have.

"From a selfish perspective, as a grandparent it would be wonderful," Mr Sher said.

"Here is a living part of the deceased son to enjoy, but on the other hand, here is a child growing up without a father. How would the child feel?

"I wonder if the child would feel compromised or ripped off. I think it should be considered from the child's perspective."

Author, aid worker and army wife Kay Danes, 42, whose husband Kerry has worked in Special Forces for 35 years, said technology today helped couples make a choice.

"I've lost count of the times I've nearly been widowed," the mother of three said.

"If you've found your soul mate, you want a piece of him, so if I turned the clock back I'd strongly consider it because of their training.

"It's a dangerous lifestyle, and not just for those deployed overseas. Look at the Black Hawk helicopter crash - 18 soldiers killed in one night."

Sperm collection and freeze costs about $275 upfront and storage costs about $175 every six months, a fee the fertility industry has waived for Diggers.

A Defence spokesman confirmed the Commonwealth would financially assist reproductive services only if there was an underlying medical reason relating to fertility.