The Puah Institute, which provides halachic supervision for fertility treatments, has issued a statement following the IVF incident at Assuta Ramat Hahayal Medical Center.
The institute emphasized that it places its trust in fertility laboratories throughout Israel, describing their work as highly professional and dedicated, and noting that it works with them in full cooperation.
The institute also said that Assuta Ramat Hahayal faithfully carries out its work with a highly skilled, expert and professional staff.
The Puah Institute expressed regret over the incident and said it was confident that the matter would be thoroughly investigated by the relevant professional authorities.
The institute explained that its halachic supervision system was established to help prevent rare errors of this nature.
Because of the complex and delicate nature of fertility treatments, as well as the importance that halacha places on establishing the identity of children born through in vitro fertilization, the institute said that special and stringent supervision is necessary to reduce the possibility of human error at the various stages of the process.
In the past, IVF was prohibited by rabbis and halachic authorities because of concerns over uncertainty regarding the identity of a child, both during the various stages of fertilization and when the correct embryo was returned to the correct couple. IVF was permitted only after a supervision system was developed in cooperation with fertility laboratories.
What does the supervision entail?
Couples undergoing fertility treatment can approach the Puah Institute to arrange supervision by a trained supervisor who remains present throughout the process.
The supervision covers:
- Retrieval of the woman's eggs and collection of the man's sperm.
- Fertilization, when the genetic material of the woman and man is combined.
- Development of the embryo over several days in the laboratory.
- Returning the embryo to the woman's body.
- Freezing additional embryos in a separate storage tank.
For 34 years, the Puah Institute has provided close supervision through a trained and qualified team of approximately 50 supervisors located throughout Israel.
The system combines personal supervision with a locking system using a special storage tank in which the couple's genetic material is secured throughout each stage of treatment at fertility laboratories and medical centers.
Halachic perspective
Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, a halachic adviser and authority at the Puah Institute, explained that there are ostensibly three possible scenarios in a case involving an exchange of sperm:
- Sperm from one non-Jewish donor was exchanged with sperm from another non-Jewish donor. In such a case, there is no halachic significance.
- Sperm from a non-Jewish donor was exchanged with sperm from a Jewish donor. This has halachic significance because of concerns that the child could unknowingly marry a sibling or have the status of a shtuki - a child whose father's identity is unknown. However, Rabbi Weitzman noted that after the fact, rabbinical courts generally seek to permit the child's status.
- Donor sperm was exchanged with sperm belonging to another patient. This has halachic significance regarding the question of who will raise the child.
Halachic details concerning an embryo created using unidentified sperm
Regarding the status of a child born through fertility treatments or sperm donation, the majority of halachic authorities maintain that even if the sperm donor is a mamzer, the status of mamzerut is not transmitted through IVF. Accordingly, the child would be considered halachically fit.
There are, however, halachic authorities who disagree and maintain that the child would have the status of a mamzer. For this reason, the stricter view is taken into consideration from the outset, and sperm donation from a non-Jewish donor is generally preferred.
Nevertheless, when the sperm donor is Jewish and the matter is considered after the fact, rabbinical courts make efforts to permit the child's status.
The father's obligations toward the child
According to one possible halachic approach, the owner of the sperm could be considered the child's father and therefore obligated to provide for and care for his son.
However, other halachic authorities disagree, maintaining that there is no legal or halachic parent-child relationship between a sperm donor and the resulting child, particularly when the donor did not wish to become a father - such as in a case where the sperm was taken from him against his will.
A child born when the father's identity is unknown
The Sages discussed the case of a child born to a woman whose father's identity is unknown, such as when an unmarried woman becomes pregnant and gives birth without revealing the identity of the child's father.
If it is reasonably established that the father was not Jewish, the child is considered halachically fit, since there is no Jewish lineage through a non-Jewish father in such a case and the child is not halachically attributed to him.
However, if there is concern that the father was Jewish, it must be determined whether he was halachically fit to marry into the Jewish community - meaning, among other things, that he was not a mamzer.