There's all kinds of afflictions that might threaten your life but not your head, from cancer that's spread to a critical organ to blunt trauma to any critical trauma. If something destroys your body, this might be the last and only solution.
The children will be biologically of the new body you have. I don't think anyone has written a law on this yet, but I suppose the children will be legally yours, and yours to raise and culture :)
Most of our identities is in our heads, though some things linked to your character are linked with things in your body. Perhaps your appetite is, and perhaps your preference for sporting/outdoor/indoor activities. I bet a lot of this is not yet well known or researched, and the world would be very intrigued by how you feel about things after the surgery!
Maybe as temporary measure while massive (deadly?) treatments are performed on the original body?
Last but not least, if you transplant a head on a new body and this new body has children, whose children are they? Is our identity only in the head?