A RABBINIC BAN ON SPERM DONATION Moshe Zemer

QUESTION: The Israel Chief Rabbinate Council published warning notices in several national newspapers which forbade Jewish men to donate semen to hospital sperm banks and prohibited Jewish women to accept medical treatment which includes artificial insemination of sperm from a donor (A.LD.). No specific mention is made of artificial insemination from a husband(A.ILH.). Does the Halakhah permit a man to give sperm for the artificial impregnation of his wife?*

ANSWER: The Chief Rabbinate's ban does not relate to the question nor does it substantiate any of its prohibitions with halakhic sources. It is widely assumed that Jewish Law permits A.I.H., but this has not always been the case. There were rabbis who opposed or limited the husband's participation in this treatment. Rabbi Malkiel Zvi Tennenbaum stated that it is forbidden for a man to donate sperm to artificially inseminate his wife:"Even ejaculating sperm into a tube must be considered prohibited, because he is wasting his seed at the moment of the act(Responsa Divrei Malkiel, vol. 4,107). Rabbi Ovadia Hadaya, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, until his death, wrote a responsum in 1957 that it is forbidden for a husband to take part in this treatment because"this is infested with the prohibition of corrupting one's seed"(Responsa Yaskil Avdi, 1939, vol.5, Even Haezer, 10).

In contrast to these negators, other decisors permit the husband to donate his sperm for this treatment which is not considered wasting seed. This is the approach of R. Aharon Walkin of Pinsk:"This is not considered spilling seed, because eventually the sperm is put into the uterus for the purpose of impregnating his wife. He is doing this in accordance with the command of the physicians and to fulfill a mitzvah"(Responsa Zeqan Aharon, 1951, vol. 2, Even Haezer, 97). Rabbi Isaac Jacob Weiss gave judgment that it is not just the deed which determines whether or not the treatment is permitted, but the man's intention. Therefore, he determined that when the husband intends to become a father, it is permitted for him to undergo the treatment"because his intention is to impregnate and therefore he

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