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Baby M: Tug of war
between her father and
surrogate mother
Surrogate Parenting
A new approach to help
couples have families
Ancient Jewish law sees
modern obstacles
RABBI DARNEL I. SCHWARTZ
RABBI CHAIM BERGSTEIN
T
T
he drama being played out in the
crowded courtroom in Hacken-
sack, New Jersey over a baby
named M illustrates just how unprepared
we are, as a society, to handle the miracles
and morality that new scientific advances
have created. The landmark case centers
around Mary Beth Whitehead who con-
tracted to be inseminated artificially by
William Stern, -thereby becoming a surro-
gate mother so that the Sterns could have
the child they so desperately wanted.
Surrogacy is as ancient as the Jewish
people. The first surrogate relationship on
record took place when Sarah, upon realiz-
ing that she was barren, demanded that
Abraham impregnate her handmaiden
Haggar. The aftermath of that particular
arrangement was cataclysmic at best. But
with a record 15 percent of American
couples deemed infertile and science's
ability to .provide a viable alternative, a
great many people are returning to the
surrogate solution as the answer to their
prayers of having and raising a family.
The case against surrogacy seems to
center on some of the more traditional val-
ues of society and how mothers and the
institution of motherhood is viewed. To
those of just a generation ago, it was un-
thinkable that a mother would sell her
baby for $10,000. Although it has changed,
there was once a presumption that the
court should automatically award custody
to a mother based around the feeling that
there is a special, sacred relationship and
he case of Baby M raises an enor-
mous controversy. The reason for
our interest is that this is an un-
usual breakthrough of science and the
question of its morality tests our thinking
process.
As Jews, we are obligated to say what
we know to be the Torah view, emphati-
cally, without reservation. In the event we
cannot make a decision, we are equally
obligated to admit this is a "Taykoo," a
matter beyond our ability to determine.
Surrogate motherhood is not one of
these unsolvable mysteries. It is abso-
lutely forbidden for a multitude of
Halachic and moral reasons for a Jew to do
or procure. According to Rabbi Dr. J.
David Bleich, rabbi rosh yeshiva and pro-
fessor of law at Yeshiva University, one of
the world's foremost authorities on Jewish
medical ethics, it is morally repugnant,
bordering on prostitution, and in the event
of a married surrogate mother almost
adulterous. Surrogate motherhood is not
new in Torah and talmudic literature.
Sarah wished to raise a child which she
could not bear so she asked Abraham to
marry Hagar in order to receive the emo-
tional benefit of raising a son. It did not
work out well for all involved.
Artificial impregnation exists in the
story of Ben-Sirah's birth by the prophet
Jeremiah, whose'seed was emitted in a hot
bath and fertilized the mother of Ben-
Sirah who entered later. Another talmudic
source discusses whether a High Priest
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