Igros Moshe (EH I #10) Question A women who has not given birth after 10 years of marriage and the doctors say the problem is with her husband and she really wants to have a child as all women do. She went to a doctor who inserted the sperm of another man in her uterus without her husband’s permission, is she now prohibited to her husband and what is the status of the resulting child? Answer It is clear that if there was no intercourse with another man she is not prohibited to her husband. The sperm itself does not make her prohibited. Intercourse prohibits even without sperm. The gemora describes a case that a woman got impregnated from sperm in a bath and says this is not prohibited znus and she is not prohibited to her husband. The child is not considered a mamzer since there was no intercourse and this is true even if the sperm was from a close relative such as a father or brother. This is the story of Ben Sira. However if the sperm was from a Jew, then the child can not marry any of the donor’s children but if his identity is not known she child can marry anyone. Nevertheless since most sperm donations come from non Jews there is no concern with whom the chiold marries. Even if the doctor claims the donor was Jewish he is not believed. . The Maharsham and Emek Halacha are quoted as saying that this is permitted in cases of great need so obviously it is pewrmitted if already done. G-d forbid for the husband to separate from his wife because of this. An additional question is if the child is a girl whether she can marry a cohen? There are authorities that permit it and in actuality she is not disqualified from a cohen. However if her husband does not want to support the child he exempt as well as paying for the expenses of the birth and other medical expenses since this was not done with his consent.
Igros Moshe (EH I #71) Question Can the sperm of another man be added to that of the husband as a booster? Answer This is simply deception to placate the husband that he might be the actual father. In reality it is insignificant since the pregnancy is the result of only one sperm either the husband’s or the other man’s. However the Yerushalmi disagrees and says two men can be the actual father. According to the Yerushalmi the booster actually helps. |In fact it is permitted to do artificial insemination with the sperm of a non Jew at times of great need when the woman has a great desire for children. It can be assumed in America that the sperm was donated by a non Jew. Ideally she should get her husband’s assent
Igros Moshe. (EH II #11) I received your very long letter, which was full of criticism against me,. concerning my ruling which was published in Igros Moshe about artificial insemination which you believe will cause harm to the purity and holiness of the lineage of the Jewish People. It is also obvious from your letter that you think I will object to your criticism. The reality is the opposite. I see from your letter only that there are elevated people who are not afraid or embarrassed to give criticism. However the truth is that there is nothing in what I wrote in that ruling, the slightest possibility of destroying the purity and holiness of the Jewish People. It consists entirely of true Torah from the words of our teachers the Rishonim. Consequently your objections simply indicate that you have a different understanding which is based on non Torah sources which dismiss the words of gedolim in their understanding of G-d’s commandments and the holy Torah. These external views turn prohibitions into permitted acts and that which is permitted becomes prohibited. They are thus antithetical to Torah and halacha. This is true even for being strict as is know the tzadokim actually wanted to be stricter and consequently there were even rabbinic decrees made to go against these greater restrictions of the tzadokim. I am not Thank G-d either from them or the masses. All my Jewish outlook is based entirely on my knowledge of Torah without the slightest mixtue of external knowledge. My rulings are true whether for strictness or leniency. I not only am not influenced by non Torah views but I also don’t make up analysis based on emotion or personal bias even to be more strict than the halacha calls for or because I imagine it is a purer and holier path. Now let’s look at the nature of this halacha. It is unquestionably clear that sexual sins require an act of sexual intercourse and have nothing to do with the sperm . Thus it is irrelevant for the sin whether the intercourse can result in children or not and thus applies to sterile people or whether it is natural or unnatural intercourse or even whether sperm is produced .Since the prohibition is entirely because of the act of intercourse it is totally unrelated to the insertion of sperm into her body when there is no act of intercourse no matter whether the sperm is a relative or someone else she with whom she is prohibited to have intercourse. Consequently she does not become prohibited to her husband nor does the resulting child become a mamzer by the insertion of sperm but only bt an act of prohibited intercourse.
Igros Moshe (EH IV#32.5) Question: Artificial Insemination with sperm from husband or non-Jew? Answer: This that I have stated previously regarding the permissibility of artificial insemination I have no regrets or retractions. However in practice I have not ruled that it should be done since this has nothing to do with the husband’s fulfilment of having children and the wife has no obligation at all to have children and the fact that this might cause the husband to be very jealous. Consequently this is not a good idea to actually do. If someone actually did it than the child is not a mamzer and is permitted to marry even to a cohen. It is also permitted to use the sperm of the husband even if she is a Niddah if the doctors say that this is the best time.
