http://informahealthcare.com/gye ISSN: 0951-3590 (print), 1473-0766 (electronic) Gynecol Endocrinol, Early Online: 1–2 ! 2014 Informa UK Ltd. DOI: 10.3109/09513590.2014.950644
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Current Jewish perspectives on maternal identity Joel B. Wolowelsky1 and Richard V. Grazi2 Department of Jewish Philosophy, Yeshivah of Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, USA and 2Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Gynecol Endocrinol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Universitat de Girona on 10/24/14 For personal use only.
1
Abstract
Keywords
Infertility counseling is a specialized field that will continue to grow in coming years as the impact of infertility and its treatment is documented more in terms of emotional, physical, social and life consequences. We report here on more recent developments in halakha (Jewish law and ethics) that are of importance to Orthodox Jewish infertile couple considering donor gametes or surrogacy. Counselors should anticipate issues that may arise in the future and assist couples in their efforts to address them. Good medical practice values the importance of understanding the patient’s individual concerns and values, including the complex psychological, sociological and cultural context in which they experience their infertility. Good counseling anticipates and addresses future problems about which patients might not currently be aware, and requires up-to-date authoritative information.
Assisted reproductive technology, ethics, Jewish
Introduction Medical education has increasingly emphasized the importance of understanding the patient’s individual concerns and values, including the complex psychological, sociological and cultural factors that they involve. Good counseling includes anticipating issues that might not yet be obvious to the couple at this stage in their lives. This is especially true in the area of reproductive medicine, where decisions taken by the infertile couple can impact on the yet not-conceived child. The counselor must not only understand the issues involved, but – as in all areas of medicine – he or she must have the most up-to-date information at hand. This is certainly true when counseling Orthodox Jews who are considering donor gametes or surrogacy. Orthodox Jews are committed to Halakha, the traditional corpus of Jewish law and ethics. Although there are universally accepted codifications of Halakha, the various contemporary rabbinic authorities and courts have no formal hierarchical structure. As a consequence, halakhic rulings on contemporary issues cannot be promulgated by any central authority. Instead, positions on present-day matters are typically developed by the circulation of responsa (rabbinic rulings) to questions posed to the various rabbinic authorities. Collegial review and community acceptance eventually allow for specific opinions to emerge as dominant. Yet, even when one view surfaces as authoritative, individual rabbis or layman will often defer to their local authority, whose position is considered decisive.
Address for correspondence: Joel B. Wolowelsky, Department of Jewish Philosophy, Yeshivah of Flatbush, 1609 Avenue J, Brooklyn, NY 11230, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
History Received 3 April 2014 Accepted 29 July 2014 Published online 28 August 2014
Donor eggs or surrogacy and Othodox Jewish infertile couples In cases of donor eggs or surrogacy, the gestational and genetic mothers are not the same person, and establishing which one is the halakhic mother is of major concern to the Orthodox Jewish family. If one is Jewish and the other is not, the Jewish identity of the child is in doubt. This issue becomes crucial when and if the child eventually desires to marry in an Orthodox ceremony. Even couples who are far from any commitment to personal Orthodox practice might want their child to be able to marry freely within the total Jewish community. Moreover, in Israel, Orthodox rabbis control all State marriages between Jews. Halakhists generally look to precedent in addressing contemporary issues but, as Bick [1] pointed out, there is no clear source in rabbinic literature that suggests that a woman has eggs. Schenker [2] recently offered a blanket statement in these pages that ‘‘the general opinion is that the gestational mother is regarded as a mother and her religion is the one of the offspring’’. Couples relying on such a statement may find themselves misled when the Jewish identity of their children is challenged later in life. While it is true that decades ago, when Bleich [3,4] reviewed the early rabbinic discussions, he concluded that the dominant position is that the gestational mother is the halakhic mother. But since then, senior halakhic authorities like former Israeli Chief Rabbis Yosef and Amar have ruled that it is the genetic mother who is the halakhic mother. Indeed, the confusion generated by this has been discussed widely, and not only within halakhic literature. For example, while describing last year her experience in planning to use donor eggs to become pregnant, Chesler [5] writes in the New York Times: Since the 1990s, the consensus among Jewish authorities has been that the bearing mother, not the woman who provided the gametes, is the child’s mother. But recently the pendulum has begun to swing the other way. Some rabbis in Israel now say if the donor is not Jewish, then the child is not Jewish.
2
J. B. Wolowelsky & R. V. Grazi
Gynecol Endocrinol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Universitat de Girona on 10/24/14 For personal use only.
Opinions coming out of Israel carry a lot of weight . . . After hearing that, I was in tears . . . . At the least, health practitioners advising infertile Jewish couples considering donor eggs or surrogacy should make them aware of this state of affairs. Faced with this situation, couples have a number of options available. First, of course, they can adopt one of the positions, relying on their own rabbinic authority or personal opinion and ignoring or leaving to a later date any problems that their children might face in establishing their own Jewish identity. Second, they can follow the advice of one of the late senior rabbinic authorities [6] and treat the question as undecidable, requiring a formal conversion whenever the genetic and gestational mothers are not both Jewish. This option guarantees the Jewish status of the child, but is not without its own problems. Orthodox religious courts will generally not convert a child unless there is substantive halakhic observance in the household. Also, a woman convert may not marry a kohen (a descendent of Aaron the High Priest). Moreover, all converts lose their halakhic filial relationships upon conversion, so if the genetic father is a kohen his son might not be considered one –a fact that will become obvious when both father and son attend synagogue together. A couple might want to avoid all these problems by obtaining eggs from a Jewish donor or using a Jewish surrogate. Alas, this third option is also not without its own difficulties, not the least of which is finding Jewish egg donors or appropriate surrogates. At the time of the child’s future marriage, it would be necessary to establish the Jewish status of someone with whom contact has been probably lost decades before. This requires specific recordkeeping on the part of the health practitioner at the time of fertility therapy [7]. Whatever option the couple chooses, they should be made aware of the possible consequences of their decision.
Donor insemination While it is important to alert infertile couples to all potential problems, it is crucial to not suggest problems that are not real, unnecessarily adding tension to an already stressful situation. It is true that donor sperm remains a controversial issue since its initial discussions [8], but there are certain issues that are beyond dispute. Schenker writes, ‘‘If the semen donor is gentile, the child is a pagan’’, yet there is no rabbinic authority who so holds. There is universal agreement in halakha that if the mother is Jewish, the child is fully Jewish regardless of the religious identity of the genetic father. Schenker also writes that the child conceived
Gynecol Endocrinol, Early Online: 1–2
through donor sperm ‘‘is considered by many rabbinic scholars as having the status of mamzer, or bastard’’. It is true that there are some authorities who so hold, but this is only in the case where the mother is a married woman and the sperm donor is Jewish. There is universal agreement, even among those who consider donor sperm to be adulterous, that if the donor is not Jewish the child is not a mamzer, even if the mother is married. That is why, among other reasons, Orthodox Jewish couples considering donor sperm will generally prefer a non-Jewish donor, in contrast to the desire of some seeking donor eggs to prefer a Jewish donor, as discussed above.
Conclusion Infertility counselors should anticipate issues that may arise in the future and assist couples in their efforts to address them. Good medical practice values the importance of understanding the patient’s individual concerns and values, including the complex psychological, sociological and cultural context in which they experience their infertility. Good counseling anticipates and addresses future problems about which patients might not currently be aware, and requires up-to-date authoritative information.
Declaration of interest The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the contents and writing of this article.
References 1. Bick E. Ovum donations: a rabbinic conceptual model of maternity. Tradition 1993;28:28–45. 2. Schenker JG. Human reproduction: Jewish perspectives. Gynecol Endocrinol 2013;29:945–8. 3. Bleich JD. In vitro fertilization: questions of maternal identity and conversion. Tradition 1991;25:82–102. 4. Bleich JD. Maternal identity revisited. Tradition 1994;28:52–7. 5. Chesler C. What makes a Jewish mother. New York Times, 3 June 2013. Available at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/whatmakes-a-jewish-mother/?_php¼true&_type¼blogs&_r¼0 [last accessed 1 Apr 2014]. 6. Sherman A. Yihusim shel noladim me-hafraya hutz gufanit mi-toremet zara (Hebrew). Yeshurin 2009;21:531–45. 7. Grazi RV, Wolowelsky JB. Addressing the particular recordkeeping needs of infertile orthodox Jewish couples considering the use of donated eggs. J Assist Reprod Genet 2014;31:251–3. 8. Grazi RV, Wolowelsky JB. Donor gametes for assisted reproduction in contemporary Jewish law and ethics. Assist Reprod Rev 1992;2: 154–60.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Current Jewish perspectives on maternal identity Joel B. Wolowelsky1 and Richard V. Grazi2 Department of Jewish Philosophy, Yeshivah of Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, USA and 2Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Gynecol Endocrinol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Universitat de Girona on 10/24/14 For personal use only.
1
Abstract
Keywords
Infertility counseling is a specialized field that will continue to grow in coming years as the impact of infertility and its treatment is documented more in terms of emotional, physical, social and life consequences. We report here on more recent developments in halakha (Jewish law and ethics) that are of importance to Orthodox Jewish infertile couple considering donor gametes or surrogacy. Counselors should anticipate issues that may arise in the future and assist couples in their efforts to address them. Good medical practice values the importance of understanding the patient’s individual concerns and values, including the complex psychological, sociological and cultural context in which they experience their infertility. Good counseling anticipates and addresses future problems about which patients might not currently be aware, and requires up-to-date authoritative information.
Assisted reproductive technology, ethics, Jewish
Introduction Medical education has increasingly emphasized the importance of understanding the patient’s individual concerns and values, including the complex psychological, sociological and cultural factors that they involve. Good counseling includes anticipating issues that might not yet be obvious to the couple at this stage in their lives. This is especially true in the area of reproductive medicine, where decisions taken by the infertile couple can impact on the yet not-conceived child. The counselor must not only understand the issues involved, but – as in all areas of medicine – he or she must have the most up-to-date information at hand. This is certainly true when counseling Orthodox Jews who are considering donor gametes or surrogacy. Orthodox Jews are committed to Halakha, the traditional corpus of Jewish law and ethics. Although there are universally accepted codifications of Halakha, the various contemporary rabbinic authorities and courts have no formal hierarchical structure. As a consequence, halakhic rulings on contemporary issues cannot be promulgated by any central authority. Instead, positions on present-day matters are typically developed by the circulation of responsa (rabbinic rulings) to questions posed to the various rabbinic authorities. Collegial review and community acceptance eventually allow for specific opinions to emerge as dominant. Yet, even when one view surfaces as authoritative, individual rabbis or layman will often defer to their local authority, whose position is considered decisive.
Address for correspondence: Joel B. Wolowelsky, Department of Jewish Philosophy, Yeshivah of Flatbush, 1609 Avenue J, Brooklyn, NY 11230, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
History Received 3 April 2014 Accepted 29 July 2014 Published online 28 August 2014
Donor eggs or surrogacy and Othodox Jewish infertile couples In cases of donor eggs or surrogacy, the gestational and genetic mothers are not the same person, and establishing which one is the halakhic mother is of major concern to the Orthodox Jewish family. If one is Jewish and the other is not, the Jewish identity of the child is in doubt. This issue becomes crucial when and if the child eventually desires to marry in an Orthodox ceremony. Even couples who are far from any commitment to personal Orthodox practice might want their child to be able to marry freely within the total Jewish community. Moreover, in Israel, Orthodox rabbis control all State marriages between Jews. Halakhists generally look to precedent in addressing contemporary issues but, as Bick [1] pointed out, there is no clear source in rabbinic literature that suggests that a woman has eggs. Schenker [2] recently offered a blanket statement in these pages that ‘‘the general opinion is that the gestational mother is regarded as a mother and her religion is the one of the offspring’’. Couples relying on such a statement may find themselves misled when the Jewish identity of their children is challenged later in life. While it is true that decades ago, when Bleich [3,4] reviewed the early rabbinic discussions, he concluded that the dominant position is that the gestational mother is the halakhic mother. But since then, senior halakhic authorities like former Israeli Chief Rabbis Yosef and Amar have ruled that it is the genetic mother who is the halakhic mother. Indeed, the confusion generated by this has been discussed widely, and not only within halakhic literature. For example, while describing last year her experience in planning to use donor eggs to become pregnant, Chesler [5] writes in the New York Times: Since the 1990s, the consensus among Jewish authorities has been that the bearing mother, not the woman who provided the gametes, is the child’s mother. But recently the pendulum has begun to swing the other way. Some rabbis in Israel now say if the donor is not Jewish, then the child is not Jewish.
2
J. B. Wolowelsky & R. V. Grazi
Gynecol Endocrinol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Universitat de Girona on 10/24/14 For personal use only.
Opinions coming out of Israel carry a lot of weight . . . After hearing that, I was in tears . . . . At the least, health practitioners advising infertile Jewish couples considering donor eggs or surrogacy should make them aware of this state of affairs. Faced with this situation, couples have a number of options available. First, of course, they can adopt one of the positions, relying on their own rabbinic authority or personal opinion and ignoring or leaving to a later date any problems that their children might face in establishing their own Jewish identity. Second, they can follow the advice of one of the late senior rabbinic authorities [6] and treat the question as undecidable, requiring a formal conversion whenever the genetic and gestational mothers are not both Jewish. This option guarantees the Jewish status of the child, but is not without its own problems. Orthodox religious courts will generally not convert a child unless there is substantive halakhic observance in the household. Also, a woman convert may not marry a kohen (a descendent of Aaron the High Priest). Moreover, all converts lose their halakhic filial relationships upon conversion, so if the genetic father is a kohen his son might not be considered one –a fact that will become obvious when both father and son attend synagogue together. A couple might want to avoid all these problems by obtaining eggs from a Jewish donor or using a Jewish surrogate. Alas, this third option is also not without its own difficulties, not the least of which is finding Jewish egg donors or appropriate surrogates. At the time of the child’s future marriage, it would be necessary to establish the Jewish status of someone with whom contact has been probably lost decades before. This requires specific recordkeeping on the part of the health practitioner at the time of fertility therapy [7]. Whatever option the couple chooses, they should be made aware of the possible consequences of their decision.
Donor insemination While it is important to alert infertile couples to all potential problems, it is crucial to not suggest problems that are not real, unnecessarily adding tension to an already stressful situation. It is true that donor sperm remains a controversial issue since its initial discussions [8], but there are certain issues that are beyond dispute. Schenker writes, ‘‘If the semen donor is gentile, the child is a pagan’’, yet there is no rabbinic authority who so holds. There is universal agreement in halakha that if the mother is Jewish, the child is fully Jewish regardless of the religious identity of the genetic father. Schenker also writes that the child conceived
Gynecol Endocrinol, Early Online: 1–2
through donor sperm ‘‘is considered by many rabbinic scholars as having the status of mamzer, or bastard’’. It is true that there are some authorities who so hold, but this is only in the case where the mother is a married woman and the sperm donor is Jewish. There is universal agreement, even among those who consider donor sperm to be adulterous, that if the donor is not Jewish the child is not a mamzer, even if the mother is married. That is why, among other reasons, Orthodox Jewish couples considering donor sperm will generally prefer a non-Jewish donor, in contrast to the desire of some seeking donor eggs to prefer a Jewish donor, as discussed above.
Conclusion Infertility counselors should anticipate issues that may arise in the future and assist couples in their efforts to address them. Good medical practice values the importance of understanding the patient’s individual concerns and values, including the complex psychological, sociological and cultural context in which they experience their infertility. Good counseling anticipates and addresses future problems about which patients might not currently be aware, and requires up-to-date authoritative information.
Declaration of interest The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the contents and writing of this article.
References 1. Bick E. Ovum donations: a rabbinic conceptual model of maternity. Tradition 1993;28:28–45. 2. Schenker JG. Human reproduction: Jewish perspectives. Gynecol Endocrinol 2013;29:945–8. 3. Bleich JD. In vitro fertilization: questions of maternal identity and conversion. Tradition 1991;25:82–102. 4. Bleich JD. Maternal identity revisited. Tradition 1994;28:52–7. 5. Chesler C. What makes a Jewish mother. New York Times, 3 June 2013. Available at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/whatmakes-a-jewish-mother/?_php¼true&_type¼blogs&_r¼0 [last accessed 1 Apr 2014]. 6. Sherman A. Yihusim shel noladim me-hafraya hutz gufanit mi-toremet zara (Hebrew). Yeshurin 2009;21:531–45. 7. Grazi RV, Wolowelsky JB. Addressing the particular recordkeeping needs of infertile orthodox Jewish couples considering the use of donated eggs. J Assist Reprod Genet 2014;31:251–3. 8. Grazi RV, Wolowelsky JB. Donor gametes for assisted reproduction in contemporary Jewish law and ethics. Assist Reprod Rev 1992;2: 154–60.
