Posthumous birth

A posthumous birth is the birth of a child after the death of a parent. A person born in these circumstances is called a posthumous child or a posthumously born person. Most instances of posthumous birth involve the birth of a child after the death of its father, but the term is also applied to infants delivered shortly after the death of the mother, usually by caesarean section.Christine Quigley, The Corpse: A History, McFarland, 1996, , pages 180 to 181.
==Legal implications==
Posthumous birth has special implications in law, potentially affecting the child's citizenship and legal rights, inheritance, and order of succession. Legal systems generally include special provisions regarding inheritance by posthumous children and the legal status of such children. For example, Massachusetts law states that a posthumous child is treated as having been living at the death of the parent, meaning that the child receives the same share of the parent's estate as if the child had been born before the parent's death. Most states recognize a posthumous child born within a set time frame, normally 280 to 300 days after the death of the decedent father.
Another emerging legal issue in the United States is the control of genetic material after the death of the donor. United States law holds that posthumous children of U.S. citizens who are born outside the United States have the same rights to citizenship that they would have had if the deceased U.S. citizen parent had been alive at the time of their birth. In the field of assisted reproduction, snowflake children, i.e. those "adopted" as frozen embryos by people unrelated to them, can result in the birth of a child after the death of one or both of their genetic parents.
===In monarchies and nobilities===
A posthumous birth has special significance in the case of hereditary monarchies and hereditary noble titles following primogeniture. In this system, a monarch's or peer's own child precedes that monarch's or peer's sibling in the order of succession. In cases where the widow of a childless king or nobleman is pregnant at the time of his death, the next-in-line is not permitted to assume the throne or title, but must yield place to the unborn child, or ascends and reigns (in the case of a monarch) or succeeds (in the case of a peer) until the child is born (see Alfonso XIII, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha or John Pelham, 9th Earl of Chichester).
In monarchies and noble titles that follow male-preference cognatic primogeniture, the situation is similar where the dead monarch or peer was not childless but left a daughter as the next-in-line, as well as a pregnant widow. A posthumous brother would supplant that daughter in the succession, whereas a posthumous sister, being younger, would not. Similarly, in monarchies and noble titles that follow agnatic primogeniture, the sex of the unborn child determines the succession; a posthumous male child would himself succeed, whereas the next-in-line would succeed upon the birth of a posthumous female child.
===Modern complications===
Posthumous conception by artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, whether done using sperm or ova stored before a parent's death or sperm retrieved from a man's corpse, has created new legal issues.Renee H. Sekino, Posthumous Conception: The Birth of a New Class , Boston University Journal of Sci. and Tech. Law, 2001. When a woman is inseminated with her deceased husband's sperm, laws that establish that a sperm donor is not the legal father of the child born as a result of artificial insemination have had the effect of excluding the deceased husband from fatherhood and making the child legally fatherless.
In the United Kingdom before 2000, birth records of children conceived using a dead man's sperm had to identify the infants as fatherless, but in 2000 the government announced that the law would be changed to allow the deceased father's name to be listed on the birth certificate. In 1986, a New South Wales legal reform commission recommended that the law should recognize the deceased husband as the father of a child born from post-mortem artificial insemination, provided that the woman is his widow and unmarried at the time of birth, but the child should have inheritance rights to the father's estate only if the father left a will that included specific provisions for the child.
In 2001, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was asked to consider whether the father's name should appear on the birth record for a child conceived through artificial insemination after her father's death, as well as whether that child was eligible for U.S. Social Security benefits. The court ruled in January 2002 that a child could be the legal heir of a dead parent if there was a genetic relationship and the deceased parent had both agreed to the posthumous conception and committed to support the child. Different U.S. state courts and federal appellate courts have ruled differently in similar cases. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Astrue v. Capato that twins born 18 months after their father's death using the father's frozen sperm were not eligible for Social Security benefits, which set a new precedent.
==Naming==
In the Middle Ages, it was traditional for posthumous children born in England to be given a matronymic surname instead of a patronymic one. This may in part explain why matronyms are more common in England than in other parts of Europe.Bowman, William Dodgson. The Story of Surnames. London, George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., 1932. No ISBN.
In Ancient Rome, posthumous children of noble birth were often given the cognomen (or third name) 'Postumus'. One example is Agrippa Postumus. 
In Yoruba culture, posthumous children are given names that refer to the circumstances concerning the birth. Examples of this include Bàbárímisá, meaning that the Father saw (the child) and ran; Yeyérínsá, meaning that the mother saw (the child) and ran; Ikúdáyísí (or any name with the root dáyísí), which means that death spared the child; and Ẹnúyàmí, meaning that "I was surprised", referring to the fact that the tragic death of the father, mother, or both was sudden and surprising for the family.
==Notable people born posthumously==
===Antiquity===
Name 	Born 	Late parent 	Parent died 	Gap 	Cause of parent's death
Bindusara 	320 BCE 	Durdhara 	320 BCE 	Same day 	Poisoning. He was delivered through caesarean section.Lurie S (2005). "The changing motives of cesarean section: from the ancient world to the twenty-first century". Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 271 (4): 281–285. doi:10.1007/s00404-005-0724-4. .
Alexander IV 	August 323 BCE	Alexander the Great 	11 June 323 BCE	2 months 	Disease.
Cornelia Postuma	77 BCE 	Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix	78 BCE 	 	Disease, possibly related to chronic alcoholic abuse.
Agrippa Postumus	12 BCE 	Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa 	12 BCE 	A few weeks 	Disease.
Shapur II 	309 AD 	Hormizd II 	309 AD 	40 days 	Assassination. Shapur is said to be the only monarch in history who was crowned in utero.
 	1 January 362 	Constantius II 	3 November 361 	1 month, 29 days	Fever.
===Middle Ages===
Name 	Born 	Late parent 	Parent died 	Gap 	Cause of parent's death
Muhammad 	570 	Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib	569 	<6 months 	Disease while returning from a trade mission in Medina.
Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr 	634 	Abu Bakr al-Siddiq 	23 August 634 	<3 months 	On 23 August 634, Abu Bakr fell sick and did not recover. He developed a high fever and was confined to bed. His illness was prolonged, and when his condition worsened, he died in Medina.
Constantine 	1 January 798 	Constantine VI 	19 April 797 	8 months, 13 days 	Died of wounds after being blinded by his mother, Irene, who proclaimed herself Empress.
Robert I 	15 August 866 	Robert the Strong 	2 July 866 	1 month, 13 days 	Killed at the Battle of Brissarthe.
Charles the Simple 	17 September 879	Louis the Stammerer 	10 April 879 	5 months, 7 days 	Disease contracted during a campaign against the Vikings.
Al-Mustakfi 	11 November 908 	al-Muktafi 	13 August 908 	3 months, 2 days 	Unspecified illness.
Lothair III 	1075 	Gebhard of Supplinburg 	9 June 1075 	 	Killed at the Battle of Langensalza.
Saint Drogo 	14 March 1105 	 	 	 	His mother died in childbirth, leaving him orphan from birth
Valdemar I 	14 January 1131 	Canute Lavard 	7 January 1131 	7 days 	Murdered by Magnus the Strong.
Raymond II of Turenne 	1143 	Boson II of Turenne 	1143 	4 months 	
Constance I 	2 November 1154 	Roger II 	26 February 1154 	8 months, 5 days 	
Baldwin V 	August 1177 	William of Montferrat 	June 1177 	2 months 	Possibly malaria.
Arthur I 	29 March 1187 	Geoffrey II 	19 August 1186 	7 months, 10 days	Disputed. One source claims he was trampled to death in a joust, other that he died of a sudden chest affliction.
Maria of Montferrat 	Summer 1192 	Conrad of Montferrat 	28 April 1192 	A few months 	Assassination.
Theobald I 	30 May 1201 	Theobald III 	24 May 1201 	6 days 	
Raymond Nonnatus 	1204 	His mother 	1204 	Same day 	Childbirth. He was retrieved through caesarean section afterward.
Walter IV 	1205 	Walter III 	14 June 1205 	 	Killed in battle.
Charles I 	early 1227 	Louis VIII 	8 November 1226 	?? 	Dysentery.
Stephen the Posthumous 	1236 	Andrew II 	21 September 1235 	at least 2 months 	
Robert II 	September 1250 	Robert I 	8 February 1250 	7 months 	Killed in battle.
Przemysł II 	14 October 1257 	Przemysł I 	4 June 1257 	4 months, 10 days 	
Władysław of Legnica 	6 June 1296 	Henry V, Duke of Legnica 	22 February 1296 	4 months 	Illness following imprisonment.
John I 	15 November 1316	Louis X 	5 June 1316 	5 months, 10 days 	Pneumonia or pleurisy from drinking excess cooled wine after a real tennis match.
Isabel de Verdun 	21 March 1317 	Theobald de Verdun 	27 July 1316 	7 months, 22 days 	Typhoid.
Maria of Calabria 	6 May 1329 	Charles 	9 November 1328 	5 months, 27 days 	
John, 3rd Earl of Kent 	7 April 1330 	Edmund of Woodstock 	19 March 1330 	19 days 	Executed for treason against his nephew, Edward III of England.
Joan of France 	May 1351 	Philip VI 	22 August 1350 	9 months 	
William of Bavaria-Munich 	1435 	William III 	12 September 1435 	up to 3 months 	
Joan of Portugal 	31 March 1439 	Edward, King of Portugal 	9 September 1438 	6 months, 22 days 	Plague.
Ladislaus VI 	22 February 1440	Albert II 	27 October 1439 	3 months, 23 days 	
Henry VII 	28 January 1457 	Edmund Tudor 	1 or 3 November 1456	2 months, 25 days 	Bubonic plague.
John Louis 	19 October 1472 	John II 	15 July 1472 	3 months, 4 days 	
Mencía PachecoFranco Silva, A. (2009) "Las mujeres de Juan Pacheco y su parentela." Historia, Instituciones, Documentos. Vol. 36, pgs. 161-182	1474–1475 	Juan Pacheco 	1 October 1474 	 	Throat ailment.
Clement VII 	26 May 1478 	Giuliano de' Medici 	26 April 1478 	1 month 	Assassination in the Pazzi Conspiracy.
===16th–18th centuries===
Name 	Born 	Late parent 	Parent died 	Gap 	Cause of parent's death
Catherine of Austria 	14 January 1507 	Philip I 	25 September 1506 	3 months, 18 days	Typhoid or poison.
Alexander Stewart 	30 April 1514 	James IV 	9 September 1513 	7 months, 21 days	Killed at the Battle of Flodden.
Wenceslaus III Adam 	December 1524 	Wenceslaus II 	17 November 1524 	1 month 	
Henry Berkeley 	26 November 1534 	Thomas Berkeley 	19 September 1534 	9 weeks, 4 days 	
Duarte 	March 1541 	Duarte 	20 September 1540 	7 months 	
Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville 	5 April 1549 	François d'Orléans 	25 October 1548 	5 months, 8 days 	
Sebastian 	20 January 1554 	João Manuel 	2 January 1554 	18 days 	Tuberculosis or diabetes.
Maria of Hanau-Münzenberg 	20 January 1562 	Philipp III 	14 November 1561 	2 months, 6 days 	
Ben Jonson 	c. 11 June 1572 	His father 	April 1572 	1–2 months 	
Henry II 	1 September 1588 	Henry I 	5 Mar 1588 	5 months, 23 days	Disease.
Charles of Austria 	7 August 1590 	Charles II 	10 July 1590 	28 days 	
Toyotomi Sadako 	1592 	Toyotomi Hidekatsu 	14 October 1592 	 	Killed in Korean Campaign.
Sveinn "Skotti" Björnsson 	1596–1597 	Björn Pétursson 	1596 	 	Executed for murder.
Thomas Herbert 	15 May 1597 	Richard Herbert 	15 October 1596 (buried) 	7 months 	
Friedrich Wilhelm II 	12 February 1603 	Friedrich Wilhelm I 	7 July 1602 	7 months, 5 days 	
Joseph of Cupertino 	17 June 1603 	Felice DesaCatholic Encyclopedia 	 	 	
Abraham Cowley 	1618 	His father 	 	 	
Elizabeth Gyllenhielm 	1622 	Charles Philip 	25 January 1622 	 	Disease during the 1622 siege of Narva.
François-Henri de Montmorency 	8 January 1628 	François de Montmorency-Bouteville 	22 June 1627 	6 months, 15 days	Executed for dueling.
Isaac Newton 	4 January 1643 	Isaac Newton, Sr. 	October 1642 	3 months 	
Gulielma Penn 	February 1644 	Sir William Springett 	3 February 1644 	a few days 	Fever following Siege of Arundel.
William III 	14 November 1650 	William II 	6 November 1650 	8 days 	Smallpox.
Robert Molesworth 	7 September 1656 	Robert Molesworth, Sr. 	3 September 1656 	4 days 	
Adolphus Frederick II 	19 October 1658 	Adolphus Frederick I 	27 February 1658 	7 months, 21 days	
Jonathan Swift 	30 November 1667 	Jonathan Swift, Sr. 	c. April 1667 	7 months 	Syphilis.
William August 	30 November 1668 	Adolf William, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach	21 November 1668 	9 days 	
Thomas Greenhill 	1669? 	William Greenhill 	 	 	
Emmanuel Lebrecht 	20 May 1671 	Emmanuel 	8 November 1670 	6 months 	
Godscall Paleologue 	12 January 1694 	Theodorious Paleologus 	August-December 1693 	Up to 5 months 	
Christine Marie Jacqueline Henriette FitzJames	29 May 1703 	Henry FitzJames 	16 December 1702 	5 months, 13 days	
Edward Ward, 9th Baron Dudley 	16 June 1704 	Edward Ward, 8th Baron Dudley 	28 March 1704 	2 months, 15 days	Smallpox.
Frederick Christian 	17 July 1708 	Christian Henry 	5 April 1708 	3 months, 12 days	
 	22 July 1711 	His father 	 	 	Plague.
William IV 	1 September 1711	John William Friso 	14 July 1711 	1 month, 15 days 	Drowning in a ferryboat accident.
Robert Petre, 8th Baron Petre 	3 June 1713 	Robert Petre, 7th Baron Petre 	22 March 1713 	2 months, 7 days 	Smallpox.
Edmund Pendleton 	9 September 1721 	Henry Pendleton 	1721 	4 months 	
John Morton 	1725 	John Morton, Sr. 	1724 	 	
Sir Brook Bridges, 3rd Baronet 	17 September 1733 	Sir Brook Bridges, 2nd Baronet 	23 May 1733. Retrieved 14 March 2014 	3 months, 22 days	
Barbara Herbert 	24 June 1735 	Edward Herbert 	c. March 1735 	3 months 	
Caroline Matilda 	11 July 1751 	Frederick, Prince of Wales 	20 March 1751 	3 months, 17 days	Pulmonary embolism.
Thomas Chatterton 	20 November 1752 	Thomas Chatterton Sr. 	7 August 1752Wikisource. Retrieved 14 March 2014	3 months, 13 days	
John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn 	July 1756 	John Hamilton, Sr. 	December 1755 	7 months 	Accidental drowning while on duty.
Frederick Ferdinand Constantin 	8 September 1758 	Ernest Augustus II 	28 May 1758 	3 months 	
Elizabeth Simcoe 	22 September 1762 	Thomas Gwillim 	29 January 1762 	7 months, 22 days	Killed or died otherwise in the Seven Years' War.
Benedict Joseph Flaget 	7 November 1763 	His fatherCatholic Encyclopedia 	 	 	
Andrew Jackson 	15 March 1767 	Andrew Jackson, Sr. 	c. 23 February 1767 	Around 21 days 	Logging accident.
Sawai Madhavrao 	18 April 1774 	Narayan Rao 	30 August, 1773 	7 months 	Murder.
Tenskwatawa 	January 1775 	Puckenshinwa 	October 10, 1774 	3-4 months 	Killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant.
Henry Howard 	8 August 1779 	Henry Howard 	7 March 1779 	5 months, 1 day 	
===19th century===
Name 	Born 	Late parent 	Parent died 	Gap 	Cause of parent's death
Lord George Hill 	9 December 1801 	Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire	7 September 1801 	3 months, 2 days 	Suicide.
Louis Augustus Karl Frederick Emil 	20 September 1802 	Louis 	16 September 1802	4 days 	
William Holland Thomas 	5 February 1805 	Richard Thomas 	?? 	?? 	??
Sir George Grey 	14 April 1812 	Lt-Col George Grey 	Early April 1812 	a few days 	Killed at the Battle of Badajoz.
Arthur MacArthur Sr. 	26 January 1815 	Arthur MacArthur I 	19 January 1815 	7 days 	
François Sabatier-Ungher 	2 July 1818 	His father 	shortly before 	?? 	
Charles de La Roche 	30 March 1820 	Charles Ferdinand 	14 February 1820 	1 month, 16 days 	Assassination by a Bonapartist. Each child was born to a different mother.
Alix Mélanie Cosnefroy de Saint-Ange 	16 September 1820 	Charles Ferdinand 	14 February 1820 	7 months, 2 days 	Assassination by a Bonapartist. Each child was born to a different mother.
Henri, Count of Chambord 	29 September 1820	Charles Ferdinand 	14 February 1820 	7 months, 15 days	Assassination by a Bonapartist. Each child was born to a different mother.
Ferdinand Oreille de Carrière 	10 October 1820 	Charles Ferdinand 	14 February 1820 	7 months, 25 days	Assassination by a Bonapartist. Each child was born to a different mother.
Rutherford B. Hayes 	4 October 1822 	Rutherford Hayes, Jr. 	20 July 1822 	1 month, 22 days 	
Jemima Blackburn 	1 May 1823 	James Wedderburn 	7 November 1822 	5 months, 23 days	
Anna Leonowens 	5 November 1831 	Thomas Edwards 	c. August 1831 	3 months 	
Henry B. Wheatley 	1838 	Benjamin Wheatley 	 	 	
David Hyrum Smith 	7 November 1844 	Joseph Smith 	27 June 1844 	4 months, 9 days 	Lynching while awaiting trial in jail.
Tokugawa Iemochi 	17 July 1846 	Tokugawa Nariyuki 	1 June 1846 	1 month, 16 days 	
Princess Kazu 	1 August 1846 	Ninkō 	21 February 1846 	5 months, 9 days 	
Horace Tabberer Brown 	20 July 1848 	His father 	 	 	
Henry Waldegrave, 11th Earl Waldegrave 	14 October 1854 	William Waldegrave, Viscount Chewton 	8 October 1854 	6 days 	Wounds from the Battle of the Alma.
Katherine Harley 	3 May 1855 	John Tracy William French 	1854 	 	
Samuel Alexander 	6 January 1859 	Samuel Alexander, Sr. 	 	 	
Motilal Nehru 	6 May 1861 	Gangadhar Nehru 	4 February 1861 	3 months, 2 days 	
Florence Maybrick 	3 September 1862 	William George Chandler 	 	 	
Breaker Morant 	9 December 1864 	Edwin Murrant 	August 1864 	4 months 	
William George 	23 February 1865 	William George 	June 1864 	8 months 	pneumonia
Frank Anstey 	18 August 1865 	Samuel Anstey 	c. March 1865 	5 months 	
Rua Kenana Hepetipa 	1869 	Kenana Tumoana 	November 1868 	 	Killed in Te Kooti's War.
George Washington Lambert 	13 September 1873 	George Washington Lambert, Sr. 	25 July 1873 	1 month, 16 days 	
Rudolf BesierDutch/English dramatist 	2 July 1878 	Rudolf Besier, Sr. 	c. January 1878 	c. 6 months 	
Carl Schuricht 	3 July 1880 	Carl Conrad Schuricht 	June 1880 	c. 21 days 	Drowned in the Baltic Sea while trying to save a friend.
Charles Edward 	19 July 1884 	Leopold, Duke of Albany 	28 March 1884 	3 months, 18 days	Haemophilia-related intracerebral hemorrhage after a fall.
Chester W. Nimitz 	24 February 1885 	Chester Bernard Nimitz 	14 August 1884 	6 months, 10 days	
Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi 	15 July 1885 	Muhammad Ahmad 	22 June 1885 	23 days 	Typhus.
Clara Sipprell 	31 October 1885 	Francis Sipprell 	 	 	
Alfonso XIII 	17 May 1886 	Alfonso XII 	25 November 1885 	5 months, 21 days	Dysentery worsened by tuberculosis.
Li Dazhao 	29 October 1889 	His father 	 	A few months 	
Manuel Roxas 	1 January 1892 	Gerardo Roxas y Arroyo 	21 April 1891 	8 months, 11 days	Killed by the Civil Guard
Charles Wilfred Orr English song composer	31 July 1893 	His father 	 	 	
Thomas Iorwerth Ellis 	19 December 1899 	Thomas Edward Ellis 	5 April 1899 	8 months, 14 days	
Mabel Mercer 	3 February 1900 	Her father 	 	 	
===20th century===
Name 	Born 	Late parent 	Parent died 	Gap 	Cause of parent's death
Stanley Kunitz 	29 July 1905 	Solomon Z. Kunitz 	June 1905 	6 weeks 	Suicide by drinking carbolic acid after going bankrupt.
Johan Kjær Hansen 	7 April 1907 	Hans Christian Johan Andreas Hansen 	13 December 1906 	3 months, 22 days	
Xiao Qian 	27 January 1910 	His father 	 	 	
John Jacob Astor VI 	14 August 1912 	John Jacob Astor IV 	15 April 1912 	3 months, 28 days	Sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Raoul Wallenberg 	14 August 1912 	Raoul Oscar Wallenberg 	May 1912 	3 months 	Cancer.
Red Skelton 	18 July 1913 	Joseph Elmer Skelton 	May 1913 	2 months 	
Cäzilia Gabriel 	January 1915 	Karl Gabriel 	December 1914 	1 month 	Killed in World War I.
Georg Quistgaard 	19 February 1915 	Georg Brockhoff Quistgaard 	18 December 1914 	2 months, 1 day 	
Alfred Shaughnessy 	19 May 1916 	Thomas Alfred Shaughnessy 	31 March 1916 	50 days 	Killed in World War I.
Mihrişah Sultan 	1 June 1916 	Yusuf Izzeddin 	1 February 1916 	4 months 	Suicide.
Ronald R. Van Stockum 	8 July 1916 	Reginald George Bareham 	1 July 1916 	1 week 	Killed in World War I Battle of the Somme.
Edward Bell, Jr. 	October 1918 	Edward Bell, Sr. 	24 March 1918 	6 months 	Killed in World War I.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 	11 December 1918 	Isaakiy Semyonovich Solzhenitsyn 	15 June 1918 	5 months, 25 days	Hunting accident.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti 	24 March 1919 	Carlo Ferlinghetti 	 	 	Heart attack.
John Mitchum 	6 September 1919 	James Thomas Mitchum 	February 1919 	7 months 	Railyard accident.
Jehanne Rosemary Ernestine Beaumont	7 September 1919 	Dudley Beaumont 	24 November 1918 	9 months 	Spanish flu.
Kung Te-cheng 	23 February 1920 	Kong Lingyi 	8 November 1919 	3 months, 15 days	
Alexandra 	25 March 1921 	Alexander 	25 October 1920 	5 months 	Sepsis from a captive Barbary macaque's bite.
Jules Olitski 	27 March 1922 	Jevel DemikovskyNew York Magazine (1 Oct 1973), Vol. 6, Nº 40, pg. 76	 	A few months 	Execution.
Elisabeth of Austria 	31 May 1922 	Charles I 	1 April 1922 	1 month, 30 days 	Pneumonia.
Stephen Wurm 	19 August 1922 	Adolphe Wurm 	 	 	
Mary Warnock 	14 April 1924 	Archibald Edward Wilson 	1923 	 	
Anthony Earnshaw 	9 October 1924 	His father 	 	 	
Felipe Rodríguez 	8 May 1926 	His father 	 	 	
Earl Holliman 	11 September 1928	William A. Frost 	 	7 months 	
Zhu Rongji 	23 October 1928 	Zhu Kuanshu 	 	 	
Bertram Wainer 	30 December 1928 	His father 	 	 	
Itamar Franco 	28 June 1930 	Augusto César Stiebler Franco 	April 1930 	2 months 	Malaria.Corpo de Itamar Franco chega a Juiz de Fora (MG), onde será velado UOL (In Portuguese), 3 July 2011, accessed in 29 November 2016.
Thomas Sowell 	30 June 1930 	His father 	 	 	
Brian Sewell 	15 July 1931 	Peter Warlock 	17 December 1930 	6 months, 26 days	Coal gas poisoning.
Don Durant 	20 November 1932 	His father 	September-October 1932 	2 months 	Truck accident.
Saddam Hussein 	28 April 1937 	Hussein Abd Al-Majid 	 	 	Cancer.
Ian Brady 	2 January 1938 	His father 	 	3 months 	Unknown. Brady's father was never identified, casting doubt on his mother's claims.
Lee Harvey Oswald 	18 October 1939 	Robert Edward Lee Oswald 	19 August 1939 	1 month, 28 days 	Heart attack.
Jacques Mairesse 	16 August 1940 	Jacques Mairesse, Sr. 	13 June 1940 	2 months, 3 days 	Killed while trying to escape a prisoner-of-war camp during the Battle of France.
Edwin Wilson 	27 October 1942 	His father 	 	 	
Henry and David Cecil 	11 January 1943 	Henry Kerr Auchmuty Cecil 	30 November – 2 December 1942	1 month, 1–2 days	Killed in the North African campaign of World War II.
Sylvester McCoy 	20 August 1943 	Percy Kent-Smith 	18 July 1943 	1 month, 2 days 	Killed in World War II.
Ranulph Fiennes 	7 March 1944 	Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes 	24 November 1943 	3 months, 12 days	Killed by landmine in Italy while serving in World War II.
John Pelham 	14 April 1944 	John Pelham, Sr. 	21 February 1944 	1 month, 22 days 	Killed in a road accident while serving in World War II.
Maria João Pires 	23 July 1944 	João Baptista Pires 	1 July 1944 	22 days 	
Bernard Collaery 	12 October 1944 	Edward Francis Collaery 	29 June 1944 	3 months 13 days 	Killed in World War II.
Edward Foljambe 	14 November 1944 	Peter George William Savile Foljambe 	2 September 1944 	2 months, 12 days	Killed in World War II.
Joachim 	26 November 1944 	Joachim 	20 July 1944 	4 months, 6 days 	Killed in World War II.
Konstanze von Schulthess 	27 January 1945 	Claus von Stauffenberg 	21 July 1944 	6 months, 6 days 	Executed for 20 July plot against Hitler.
Eva Barbara Fegelein 	5 May 1945 	Hermann Fegelein 	28 April 1945 	6 days 	Execution.
Frederica von Stade 	1 June 1945 	Charles S. von Stade 	10 April 1945 	1 month, 20 days 	Killed in World War II.Horace A. Laffaye, Polo in the United States: A History, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2011, p. 355
Graça Machel 	17 October 1945 	 	30 September 1945 	17 days 	
Bill Clinton 	19 August 1946 	William Jefferson Blythe Jr. 	17 May 1946 	3 months, 2 days 	Automobile accident.
Peter Kocan 	4 May 1947 	His father 	 	3 months 	Automobile accident.
Pedro López 	8 October 1948 	Midardo Reyes 	4 April 1948 	6 months, 4 days 	Murdered in La Violencia.Cowton, Michael (2020) Murders that shocked the world - 70s. Banovallum, 200 pages.
Jett Williams 	6 January 1953 	Hank Williams 	1 January 1953 	5 days 	Possibly drug-induced cardiac arrest.
Wally Carr 	11 August 1954 	His father 	 	2 months 	Suicide by gunshot.
Janet Lynn Skinner 	5 July 1955 	Billie Haille 	 	 	Spinal meningitis.
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum 	1 December 1958 	Saeed bin Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum 	9 September 1958 	2 months, 21 days	
Tyrone Power Jr. 	22 January 1959 	Tyrone Power 	15 November 1958 	2 months, 7 days 	Fulminant angina pectoris while filming an action scene.
Antwone Fisher 	3 August 1959 	Eddie Elkins 	 	2 months 	Murdered (shot) by a jealous girlfriend.
John Clark Gable 	20 March 1961 	Clark Gable 	16 November 1960 	4 months, 4 days 	Heart attack induced by an arterial blood clot.
Yves Amu Klein 	6 August 1962 	Yves Klein 	6 June 1962 	2 months 	Three heart attacks, the first while watching the exploitation film Mondo Cane.
Sławomir Makaruk 	4 October 1963 	Sławomir Makaruk 	20 April 1963 	5 months, 13 days	Accident aboard an experimental SZD-21 Kobuz glider.
Tariq Al-Ali 	18 January 1966 	His father 	 	 	
Rory Kennedy 	12 December 1968 	Robert F. Kennedy 	6 June 1968 	6 months, 6 days 	Assassination while campaigning for the 1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Brandon Teena 	12 December 1972 	Patrick Brandon 	7 April 1972 	8 months, 5 days 	Automobile accident.
Philippe Cousteau Jr. 	20 January 1980 	Philippe Cousteau 	28 June 1979 	6 months, 21 days	Aviation accident.
Diana Yukawa 	16 September 1985	Akihisa Yukawa 	12 August 1985 	1 month, 4 days 	Japan Airlines Flight 123 crash.
Natasha Ignatenko 	1986 	Vasily Ignatenko 	13 May 1986 	 	Acute Radiation Syndrome contracted while extinguishing fires above the exploded Reactor Nº4.
Gia Coppola 	1 January 1987 	Gian-Carlo Coppola 	26 May 1986 	7 months, 3 days 	Speedboating accident.
==Religious and mythological people born posthumously==
The Bible's Old Testament mentions two named cases of posthumous children:
*Ashhur, youngest son of Hezron, born when his father had died when aged past 60 years. (1 Chronicles 2:21, 24)
*Ichabod, who was born when his mother, who subsequently died, heard news that his father Phinehas had been killed at the Battle of Aphek and paternal grandfather Eli accidentally killed afterwards. (1 Samuel 4:19–22)
Parikshit, the sole survivor of the Kuru dynasty in Mahabharata, was born after his father Abhimanyu was killed in the Kurukshetra war. 
The Greek god Asclepius is said to have been delivered by caesarean section after his mother was killed on Mount Olympus.
==Fictional characters born posthumously==
*Macduff, a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth, revealed that he was not literally born, but removed from his [dead] mother, completing a plot twist.
*In Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve's fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, the Prince's father, the King, died months before he was born.
*The Irish Republican song "The Broad Black Brimmer" was about a boy whose father died before he was born.
*The Charles Dickens character David Copperfield was a posthumous child, whose father had died six months before he was born. Another Dickens character, Oliver Twist, was posthumous as his mother died while giving birth.
*On A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, baby Jacob was born after his father Dan was killed by Freddy.
*In The Hunger Games series, Gale Hawthorne's sister Posy is born shortly after their father dies in a mine explosion, and Finnick Odair's son is born months after his death in battle.
*John Connor, a principal character in the Terminator franchise, and son of Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese (a time traveler from the future), was conceived shortly before his father was killed. As an adult, John was in fact responsible for selecting Reese (who was unaware of their relation) to go back in time.
*The Noughts and Crosses series character Callie-Rose Hadley is born after the execution of her father, Callum McGregor.
*In the British television soap opera Coronation Street, Liam Connor Jr. was born in July 2009; his father and namesake Liam Connor, was ordered murdered by Tony Gordon just a short time after Liam Jr.'s conception in October 2008.
*The Stephen King novel Carrie tells briefly of the parents of the titular character, Margaret and Ralph White. Ralph, a construction worker, had impregnated Margaret, only to be killed in a construction accident shortly before the birth of their daughter.
*In Berserk, the main character Guts is found after having been birthed by a hanging corpse.
*Grey's Anatomy: Derek Shepherd dies in a car accident in Season 11, nine months before the birth of his daughter.
*Bahubali series: Mahendra Bahubali is born shortly after his father Amarendra Bahubali is killed.
*Star Wars Rebels: Kanan Jarrus dies sacrificing himself while rescuing his lover Hera Syndulla, who is pregnant with their son, Jacen Syndulla.
*In A Song of Ice and Fire, Princess Daenerys Targaryen is born months after the death of her father, King Aerys II Targaryen.
*Avatar series: Grace Augustine's human form was killed by Colonel Miles Quaritch, but her unconscious Avatar body was kept in stasis and later gave birth to Kiri.
==See also==
*Coffin birth
*Maternal death
*Posthumous sperm retrieval
==References==
==External links==
*Posthumous Child (i.e., Born After Father's Death), Adoption.com
Posthumous birth
Category:Inheritance