Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu

Becoming a surrogate

7 February, 2005
Question:

I want to surrogate for somebody; my best friend cannot have children and I would love to have a baby for her. I want to know if this is halachadig or not.


Answer:

What you are considering is potentially a great act of gemilut chassadim, lovingkindness. Still, the halachot of surrogacy are complex.

One question is determining who is halachically the mother of the child – the one who gives birth, or the genetic mother. For an overview of some of the issues, please see our article on the topic. There are also psychological and physical considerations, which are outside the parameters set for this website. We urge you to explore them as well.

This is a complex halachic issue which requires knowing the specific details of the individual situation. To discuss this further, we invite you to arrange a personal consultation with a Nishmat Fertility Counselor, a Yoetzet Halacha who has completed additional specialized training in this area. Consultations are free and can take place in person, by phone, or via internet conference. Your friend might also benefit from arranging a consultation.

This response was updated on 8 April, 2021.

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional.

For further questions or comments: 

The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.

Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.

Accessibility Toolbar