Jewish Law, Scarcity of Sperm Donors and the Consequent Private Import of Sperm of Non-Jews by Israeli Women

Abstract

Aim: The objective of this article is to explore how Israeli Jewish women cope with the religious prohibition on sperm donation and the scarcity of Israeli donors, and to estimate the number of available sperm donors in Israel. Methods: A key word search was employed to retrieve relevant Hebrew and English sources; additional information was collected via interviews with two sperm donors and twelve donor insemination patients. Results: Rabbinical instructions focus on married women and refrain from acknowledging the growing number of non-married donor insemination patients. Non-married women follow the restrictions relevant to married women and hence refrain from purchasing Jewish sperm. Israeli sperm banks offer donations of Jewish donors whose number is estimated at a maximum of 140 and a minimum of 50 for the entire Jewish population of 6.2 million. In order to abide by American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommendations, the number of available donors should optimally be six times larger. The scarcity of sperm donors drives the private import of American sperm donations. Conclusion: Reconsideration of the rabbinical prohibition to allow collecting sperm for donating to women who wish to have a baby is needed for the sake of increasing the donor pool, along with measures to ensure donors' privacy and dignity.

Soldiers’ Preferences Regarding Sperm Preservation, Posthumous Reproduction, and Attributes of a Potential “Posthumous Mother”

“…This can be understood by the fact that most of them were religious Jewish soldiers, meaning that their attitudes toward reproduction out of wedlock are influenced by Jewish religious law. In addition, one must consider the religious prohibition to procure sperm by masturbation (Bokek-Cohen, 2015) as having an impact on religious respondents. This unique religious context impedes the generalizability of the findings regarding the type of military job (combat vs. rear unit) on the willingness to preserve sperm.…”

Parent-initiated posthumous-assisted reproduction revisited in light of the interest in genetic origins

“…We, therefore, argue that bringing to life a child via PAR initiated by bereaved parents and conducted by means of an agreement with a single woman could be ethically preferable compared with ART initiated by a single woman using anonymous donated sperm (as would be the case in Israel, eg, where all sperm donation must be anonymous by law 28. PIPAR would provide the child access to information about her or his genetic origins for medical and identity reasons 23 29.…”