What determines if a child is Jewish? The egg — or the womb?
Three South Florida Jewish mothers who finally have the children they
desperately wanted, but could not have for medical reasons, are now
fighting to have those children recognized as Jewish.
All three had children through gestational surrogacy, a new
technology that uses the intended mother's ovum/egg and the father's
sperm with a surrogate carrying the baby to term. The baby is
genetically related to both parents and not to the surrogate.
However, since the child was "not born" of a Jewish mother, as Jewish
halachic
law states, the mothers, all observant Jews, are left in religious
limbo regarding the Jewish status of their children. So far, the mothers
have not been successful in getting an answer from several rabbis they
turned to for help.
"The Jewish laws state that my children are not Jewish because they
were not born to a Jewish mother — even though they are 100 percent
genetically Jewish," said Lisa Parker of
Boynton Beach, who has two toddlers, a boy and girl, born 32 days apart to two surrogates in India.
Parker, whose husband is Israeli, said since both their grandparents
are Holocaust survivors, their children should be considered Jewish
"considering our parental lines."
"Our grandparents must be turning in their graves because their
grandchildren are not considered Jewish," she said. "Hitler would have
considered them Jewish — and gassed them."
The 40-year-old Orthodox mother said she "literally went to the ends
of the world" to have children, and said she is dismayed that the
Orthodox movement does not consider them Jewish, even though "the
mohel didn't have a problem performing the
bris."
Another mother, Natalie (who declined to use her last name), of
Boca Raton,
had been through 25 IVF's that took place in Colombia, Europe, Israel
and the U.S., and is now the mother of a son through gestational
surrogacy.
"After years of emotional, physical, mental and financial stress, we
decided to use a surrogate to carry for us. Three surrogates later, we
now have a beautiful baby boy, Ariel, our sunshine and prince," she
said.
"Since this journey took over 10 years, our Jewish community was extremely happy for us. They attended the
bris and naming. Now it seems the only thing left to do is visit the
mikvah," she said.
However, that has not happened yet because she has run into problems
with local rabbis she said, "Not because they don't want to help, but
rather because they're not familiar with IVF and surrogacy," she said.
Maya Medina of
Boynton Beach,
who decided to explore surrogacy "after a long battle with
infertility," and who now has twin boys through gestational surrogacy,
echoed those sentiments.
"The problem is that science and rabbinical law have not met at the
same level yet," she said. "We need the proper rabbi to attend the
mikvah
but, so far, all five [rabbis] that I spoke with politely declined. Our
family is mostly Conservative and very traditional. My husband and I
were both born in Israel and we follow his Sephardic traditions. My
husband will not agree to the Reformed practices."
Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of Palm Beach Synagogue, who has been advised of
the women's dilemma and is anxious to help, said he would "be happy" to
speak with them.
"We tend to require them to go through the
mikvah," he said. "These are complex issues. In an Orthodox conversion, there are certain standards that have to be met."
Medina and the other mothers are clutching at a glimmer of hope.
"We would like the world to know that there are many family building
options available and want to spread awareness through our journey," she
said. "Some Jewish laws may prohibit the practices of science to create
families for the childless couple, and we are a true example of how
success is possible."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/news/palm/fl-jjpn-surrogate-1001-20140929,0,6346293.story
