Justice Department Files Show Epstein Banked Sperm in 2012, Preserving Control After Death
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
Justice Department Files Show Epstein Banked Sperm in 2012, Preserving Control After Death
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
2012 and 2016 records in newly released Justice Department files show Jeffrey Epstein stored sperm with California Cryobank and directed that it pass to his estate or another legal representative if he died.
A May 9, 2016 contract kept the sperm in Epstein’s ownership rather than treating it as a donation, making the post-death preservation arrangement part of a private storage agreement.
CooperCompanies, which has owned California Cryobank since 2021, said the bank does not currently store any samples associated with Epstein, but it did not say whether the material was transferred, destroyed or stored elsewhere.
The disclosure adds a new detail to the case of Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor and died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Bioethics scholars said the files also revive a wider debate over whether fertility clinics should accept and preserve reproductive material from convicted sex offenders.
With Epstein’s sperm missing from its cryobank, who now secretly controls his genetic legacy and for what purpose?
Can Epstein's estate legally create posthumous heirs, and could they claim the millions meant for his victims?