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

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu
Side Bar

Observing niddah while infertile

14 April, 2008

Question:

My husband is infertile (sterile – we cannot have children together) due to a medical condition during his childhood. What does this mean for our observance of taharat hamishpacha? Should I be going to the mikvah each month, or is it unnecessary (as we know we will never have children together)? If it is unnecessary, how closely should I observe the harchakot (if at all)? Thank you.


Answer:

We are sorry to hear of your husband’s infertility.

Although there is a specific concern about children being conceived during niddah, the laws of taharat hamishpachah apply irrespective of the possibility of conception.  A woman who has uterine bleeding is considered niddah whether or not she might conceive.

Pregnant couples and couples using contraception still observe these laws; similarly, your observance of taharat hamishpachah is not affected by your husband’s condition.  Every time you enter the niddah status through uterine bleeding, relations are prohibited and harchakot apply until you exit niddah through the taharah process culminating in mikveh immersion.

If you become interested in exploring your fertility options, we invite you to arrange a free consultation with a Yoetzet Halacha Fertility Counselor, details here.

This response was updated on 4 June, 2020.


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