title: Infertility in Jewish couples, biblical and rabbinic law.
abstract: The Jewish religion is family orientated, and life is guided by 'Halacha', a code of conduct based on biblical and rabbinic law. There is a duty to have children, in view of the first biblical commandment 'be fruitful and multiply', which sanctions most treatments for infertility. Interpretations vary among Orthodox, Conservative and Progressive rabbis, but it is only rabbis who have authority to advise infertile couples on which procedures concur with Jewish law, and their appraisals tend towards leniency in the interests of domestic happiness. Prohibitions against 'wasting seed', and against marriage to a man with 'wounded testes or severed membrum', may be waived to allow semen collection for analysis and treatment for male infertility. All types of assisted conception are approved, including in vitro and micro-assisted fertilization, provided the gametes are from married couples. In short cycles, artificial insemination can be permitted in the post-menstrual week of 'niddah' when coitus is forbidden. Jewish descent from the mother is automatic but, for Orthodox couples, a technical violation of the law against adultery or incest can spoil the marriage prospects of a child or interrupt the paternal priestly line of Cohen or Levi. Donor gametes are largely unacceptable to Orthodox rabbis, since egg donation confuses the definition of the mother, and because sperm donation creates subterfuge in a child's genealogy and a risk of consanguinity. However, Progressive and Conservative rabbis place more emphasis on the social attributes of parents and frequently approve of gamete donation. The Jewish status of children resulting from surrogacy or adoption can be settled by religious conversion. Objections to treating unmarried couples, single or lesbian women, and to posthumous conception, arise because such households are not traditional families.
authors.affiliation: The London Women's Clinic, 113 Harley Street, London W1N 1DG and The Roding Hospital, Redbridge, Essex IG4 5PZ, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony V.
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Hirsh