Rabbi Gideon Weitzman
Question
Is an IVF baby born to a Jewish woman halachically Jewish, even if it is known that the biological mother is not?
Answer
Shalom U'vracha The question you ask I can only assume is regarding the case of an egg donor. In such a case a woman donates her eggs to a couple, the egg is fertilized with the sperm of the husband and implanted in the uterus of his wife. Thus the child is related genetically to the husband but the genetic material comes from another woman. The question is how do we define motherhood. Is it a result of giving genetic material, or of pregnancy. Or can we say that in order to be the mother a woman has to both donate the genetic material and carry the pregnancy and birth. Most Poskim who have written on this issue hold that the birth mother is the mother. However there are opinions that the donor is the mother. Therefore in each specific case a Posek should be consulted. Kol Tuv
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