YNET reports:
For the first time in Israel an ultra-Orthodox woman will serve as a surrogate mother, after receiving authorization to do so from a rabbi.
The woman, a widowed mother from southern Israel, started making inquiries about the possibility of becoming a surrogate mother several years ago, seeking to help a childless couple bring a baby into the world. But the woman was concerned of her neighbors' reactions should she become pregnant, and asked the Institute of Fertility and Medicine According to Halacha to arrange a halachic approval from a rabbi explaining her condition and guaranteeing she was not "promiscuous." Rabbi Menachem Borshtein, head of the institute, said that such an approval was given by Rabbi Zalman Nehamia Goldberg, and this gave the woman the green light to continue with the procedure. [,,,]
For the first time in Israel an ultra-Orthodox woman will serve as a surrogate mother, after receiving authorization to do so from a rabbi.
The woman, a widowed mother from southern Israel, started making inquiries about the possibility of becoming a surrogate mother several years ago, seeking to help a childless couple bring a baby into the world. But the woman was concerned of her neighbors' reactions should she become pregnant, and asked the Institute of Fertility and Medicine According to Halacha to arrange a halachic approval from a rabbi explaining her condition and guaranteeing she was not "promiscuous." Rabbi Menachem Borshtein, head of the institute, said that such an approval was given by Rabbi Zalman Nehamia Goldberg, and this gave the woman the green light to continue with the procedure. [,,,]
From a Halachic standpoint which mother would the child be called after? As in Ploni(t) ben/bat Plonit? Would it be the mother that raised him/her or the mother who contributed the genetic material and the womb?
ReplyDeleteA bigger problem - if the egg was from a non-Jew or perhaps also the sperm would the baby be Jewish?
ReplyDeleteThere is simply no mesora on these issues.
Rabbi Bleich talks about this in volume I,II . He notes a discussion of who is the parent when there is a ovary transplant. He notes views that the child in effect has no parents. The question of where fertilization takes place also is an issue
There is a medrash that indictes that Dina and Yosef were miraculously transferred - and she was counted as following her birth mother Leah rather than the genetic material. Yosef was counted as have Rachel as his mother - even though the genetic material was from Leah.
Actually if I had to make a psak, it would go according my understanding of R' Ovadiah Hadaya's works on this. Noam Vol 1 (57 18), and in Deah V'Haskil(though I can't remember that specific reference). Considering the publication dates of his works were in the late 1930's to the early 40's I believe him to be one of the first to deal with these specific issues.
ReplyDeleteAs far as sperm and egg donors he seems to hold that the donor has no claim to the child. However, as far as surrogates, he holds that the surrogate is the actual mother.
There are two problems that surface from this, and I haven't delved into his specific Teshuvot far enough to see if he really deals with them. However here are my two issues.
1) If the surrogate child is male, and who doesn't want a son. Then by nature it seems that mother/caregiver will run into Yichud issues when the boy hits 13.
2) If there is mother/surrogate and the sperm is not the father's and a daughter is born, than the father/caregiver will run into those same yichud issues at a much earlier age.
Other issues that arise is how to explain to a child that halachically for all intents and purposes his "mother" is not his mother. This takes an even greater role within the Sephardi community where one is called to the Torah and other such things by the mother's name and not the fathers. Again with the sperm donation and surrogate mix, we have an even more difficult problem as neither the man or woman that the child know's as mother and father are really his mother or father halachicly.
Fascinating questions.
ReplyDeleteSince the baby is built from the mother who carries it to term, in accordance with the design laid out by the genetics of the sperm/egg, I wonder if later genetic testing would reveal both the birth mother and genetic mothers as mothers, or just the birth mother.
If it points to both, then there would be a true co-genitor relationship and the child would have 3 parents. Even if not, could Halacha have enough elasticity to deal with a 2 mother scenario?
This will come up sooner or later. One day, technology will probably allow for genetic material to be taken from more than one woman or man and then combined.
Bottom line imho - there is no real mesora for many new issues (just wait for cloning) and poskim will have to create halacha out of "lev shel torah" which will be "grounded" in sources
ReplyDeleteKT
Joel Rich
If there is accuracy in this halachic decision this will be a breakthrough for fertility cases.
ReplyDeleteIn past surrogate arrangements the sperm used is the father's (the husband of the wife who can not carry the child).
ReplyDeleteIf there is accuracy in this halachic decision this will be a breakthrough for fertility cases.How so? There are Halakhic decisions in support of this going back 60-70yrs. This may be unique in the recent sense, but by no means is it a "new" decision.
ReplyDeleteTeshuvos on the subject refer to a fair number of Maamarei Chazal, some agadata and some halachic.
ReplyDeleteExamples are the midrash about Yosef and Dina being switched in-utero, the machlokes about when the neshama enters a vlad (conception or 40 days later), the gemorah saying that Esther's parents who died before she was born may not have the status of "parents" for her, and several gemorahs about women who convert when they are pregnant with twins.
In teshuvos, besides the teshuva from Rav Zalman Nechemia, there's the big machlokes between Rav Moshe and the Satmar Rav on artificial insemination. (By the way, the rest of the article mentions that Rav Zalman Nechemia said that we're lechumra both ways regarding who the mother is.)
Kol HaKavod to Rav Eidenson for posting messages that deal with complex issues. Very often there is a lot more mesorah than people may know about, and we need to keep learning and keep thinking.