SELECTED REFORM RESPONSA
with ailonit, a masculine woman, who was barren(Yad, Hil. Ishut 2.4; Nid. 47b; Yev. 80b). If she married and her husband was aware of her condition. then this was a valid marriage(Yad, Hil. Ishut 4.11); although the ancient authorities felt that such a marriage would only be permitted if the prospective husband had children by a previous marriage, otherwise, he could divorce her in order to have children (Yev. 61 a; M. Yev. 24.1). Later authorities would simply permit such a marriage to stand.
We. however, are dealing either with a situation in which the lack of sexual development has been corrected and the individual has been provided with a sexual identity, or with a situation in which the psychological makeup of the individual clashed with the physical characteristics. and this was corrected through surgery. In other words, our question deals with an individual who now possesses definite physical characteristics of a man or a woman, but has obtained them through surgical procedure, and whose status is recognized by the civil government. The problem before us is that such an individual is
sterile, and the question is whether under such circumstances he or she may be married. Our question, therefore, must deal with the nature of marriage for such individuals. Can a Jewish marriage be conducted under these circumstances?
There is no doubt that both procreation and sexual satisfaction are basic elements of marriage as seen by Jewish tradition. Procreation was considered essential, as is already stated in the Mishnah :“A man may not desist from the duty of procreation unless he already has children.” The Gemara to this concluded that he may marry a barren woman if he has fulfilled this mitzvah; in any case, he should not remain unmarried(Yev. 61b). There was a difference between the Schools of Hillel and Shammai about what was required to fulfill the mitzvah of procreation. Tradition followed Hillel , who minimally required a son and a daughter, yet the codes all emphasize the need to produce children beyond that number(Tos., Yev. 8; Yad, Hil. Ishut
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