Surrogate Mothers in Israel

“A recent study of lesbians age seventeen to twenty-four found most want to be mothers” (Rosenthal 375). Although adoption is an option to gay partners in Israel, some couples would rather have a child of their own. Gay men can hire a surrogate mother to help create the family that they desire. Israel has been an advocate for gay rights since the early 1990’s, but fails to have laws allowing gay men to acquire a surrogate mother for their child in Israel.



Since surrogate mothers are not legal in Israel, gay couples are forced to find them in different countries. The Unites States of America has many organizations that allow children to be conceived and given to couples in other countries. Circle Surrogacy is one of the most commonly used places to conceive a baby for Israeli couples. In 2009, they produced 18 babies for gay couples in Israel. The United States is a favorable place to go for surrogate mothers because of medical issues and because of the ease of the procedure. For this program, it is only mandatory that the couple visits the Unites States three to four times before taking the child home to their country. Circle helps each couple with the process of having the child to the legality of bringing the child home, making it a better organization to work with.



The couples that find surrogate mothers in America are happy, but there are some complications. “It is a basic human instinct and deep emotional need to want children… It is absurd that we can’t do this in our own country and must spend a lot of money to have children elsewhere.” Not only does Israel not allow surrogacy for male gay couples, but also the surrogate mothers are expensive in the United States. One child can range from $100,000 to $180,000 just to have the child. This price somewhat forces some couple to find alternative places to conceive their children. India and Ukraine are common places to go for a less expensive surrogate mother. Although it is cheaper to have these children in countries like India, the risks are higher because there is not a close relationship between countries.



When determining the religion of the baby, religious Jews do not like surrogacy. According to Jewish law, the religion of the baby comes from the mother. In surrogate situation, the mother’s religion not be Jewish, but the family might want to raise the child Jewish in Israel. “… It is hard to set legal precedents for surrogacy because these things didn’t exist in prior centuries” says Rabbi Edward Reichman, a medical doctor and professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Having children is a big concern is Israel. Since the Bible says to “be fruitful and multiply” most religious Jews in Israel take this seriously.

Due to surrogacy not being legal in Israel, some couples have trouble bringing newborn babies home. Dan Goldberg has trouble when he tried to bring his twins home from India. Judge Phillip Marcus denied the children access into Israel on the bases of not having a paternal test to prove that they were his children. Goldberg was stranded in a Mumbai hotel with the children, Itai and Liron until everything was settled. Jonathan Ger, the director of Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, sent in a letter to explain how it was wrong that these children were not allowed into the country. He said that they were discriminated against because of sexual orientation. Goldberg won the case on appeal and was able to bring his twins into Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu states that the law needs to be relaxed to create equal rights and allow families to return to Israel.



The sources that I found were all on either gay rights pages or websites relating to gay rights. The viewpoint they have on this subject is biased, and you can see it through their writing. They are making it seem like their way is the only choice and the religious Jews of Israel are wrong. Although I agree with their viewpoint, it is not unbiased.