Israel, Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

Israelis stranded in Georgia with baby born to surrogate Ukrainian refugee mother

Source YNET News

For the past two months, an Israeli couple has remained stranded in the country of Georgia with their baby born to a refugee of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Sarit and Alex Haiman’s son was born on May 18 with the help of a Ukrainian surrogate mother, named Olga, who was extracted from the war torn country with her two children and smuggled into Georgia ahead of the birth.

Now that Olga has returned to Ukraine, the authorities are refusing to grant the baby a birth certificate due to being to born to a refugee, preventing the young family from leaving for Israel.

Read more

Gay Parenting, Israel, Surrogacy

In Breakthrough, Israel Temporarily Eases Gay Surrogacy Policy

Source YNETNEWS

In what looks to be a breakthrough in the fight for equality, the Health Ministry announced Monday a temporary change in the gay surrogacy policy, making it easier for male homosexual couples to arrange surrogate pregnancies in Israel.

According to the new changes, single gay males or homosexual couples who have frozen embryos abroad, or are planning to freeze them until the end of April, will be able to bring them to Israel for insemination via a surrogate.

This means that tens, and perhaps even hundreds, of couples can now continue the surrogacy process they’ve started abroad in the country, with an Israeli surrogate. The existing law permits fertilization of eggs only in Israel, which negatively affects male couples or gay individuals, who could only find a suitable candidate to donate eggs abroad.

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel’s New Surrogacy Ruling Is More Just, but Discriminatory

Source Haaretz

For many years, the issue of surrogacy in Israel has been fertile ground for argument and debate. Earlier this month, surrogacy twice made its way into the headlines. The first time was about six former surrogates launching a crowdfunding campaign after the “New Life” agency filed a libel suit against them (a gag order has been imposed on the lawsuit’s contents). The second time was about Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announcing that surrogacy would be extended in Israel to men, regardless of their relationship status.

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel -Merav Michaeli has baby through surrogate in US

Source The Jerusalem Post

Jerusalem Post  Israel News

Merav Michaeli has baby through surrogate in US

By GIL HOFFMAN   

AUGUST 22, 2021 16:39

Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli.

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli announced that she and her partner are the new parents of a son delivered by a surrogate.

    

Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli and her partner, comedian Lior Schleien, announced on Saturday night that they are the new parents of a son delivered by a surrogate mother in the United States.

“We are so happy to have him and to be his parents,” Michaeli wrote on Facebook. “This is a love story. Now it is a love story of three.”

Read more

Israel, Same Sex, Surrogacy

Israel will allow same sex couples to access surrogacy

Source BioNews

Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples and single men will be able to become parents through surrogacy.

The court had previously ruled that the law allowing only heterosexual couples and single women to access surrogacy was discriminatory (see BioNews 1037) and gave the government a year to revise the legislation. This deadline passed in March this year without changes being made. 

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel – High Court pushes deadline to fix surrogacy law after electionsHigh Court pushes deadline to fix surrogacy law after elections

Source The jerusalem Post

The High Court of Justice gave the Israeli government an extra four months on Wednesday to fix the surrogacy law that it deemed unconstitutional due to its failure to include single men and same-sex couples in the legislation, meaning that the deadline will now be after the March 23 elections.

The state will now have until July 1 to fix the legislation to include single men and same-sex couples. The new government, or the interim government if a new government is not formed, will be responsible for meeting the deadline. After the government files an update on the status of the law by July 1, the petitioners will have until July 5 to respond.

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel – Couples in surrogacy permitted to leave, enter Israel for birth

Source The Jerusalem Post

Couples who are having their babies through surrogates are the new exception to the airport and flights closure brought on by the caution against the recent coronavirus variants. They will be permitted to leave the country specifically for the birth of the child.

Read more

Gay Parenting, Israel, Surrogacy

Israel to allow surrogacy for gay couples and single men

Source BioEdge

Israel’s high court has struck down a law which excludes single men and gay couples from using surrogate mothers to have their children. The Knesset has a year to pass a new law.

The High Court of Justice ruled unanimously that Israel’s surrogacy laws “disproportionately violate the right to equality and the right to parenthood of these groups and are illegal.” Supreme Court President Esther Hayut  wrote with two other jusitics, “The sweeping exclusion of homosexual men from the use of surrogacy is viewed as ‘suspicious’ discrimination, suggesting that this part of the population is inferior.”

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel – Is the push for surrogacy rights a humanitarian cause?

Source Israel National News

 

The demand to expand surrogacy for male couples has been described by some in recent weeks to be a humanitarian cause, but the issue is a lot more complex underneath the surface.

A study conducted by Dr. Etty Samma revealed certain aspects on the phenomenon of surrogacy that are generally ignored by the Israeli media.

“With some of the women who agreed to this, and with the approval of the Ethics Committee, I conducted in-depth interviews and talked about the process they underwent,” explained Dr. Samma.

“The interviews dealt with more than 100 surrogacy procedures, both parents and surrogates.”

Dr. Samma discovered that in fact a good number perhaps most don’t finish the surrogacy until birth.

Read more

Israel

Israel to Fight Listing Both Fathers of Kids Born via Surrogacy

Source Haaretz

The move, coming a few days after the Knesset voted not to include gay men in a new domestic surrogacy law, will make it harder for gay men to be recognized as the parents of children born abroad using surrogacy

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel – Netanyahu flip-flops on surrogacy rights for gay men

Source Al Monitor

On July 18, the Knesset approved a new law offering heterosexual couples and single women state-supported surrogacy. The new law excludes single men and gay couples. Previously, state support was offered only to married heterosexual couples. The final version did not include a proposed amendment that would have allowed single men to have a child in Israel through surrogacy.

There is no reason to be surprised that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly withdrew his support for the amendment. Supporting it would have meant angering the ultra-Orthodox Knesset factions and a potential coalition crisis just moments before the Knesset begins its summer recess on July 22.

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel – LGBTs call nationwide strike in protest of surrogacy law excluding gays

Source Times Of Israel

Israel’s LGBT community has called a nationwide strike in protest of a bill passed by the Knesset that loosened surrogacy regulations but did not include a clause enabling gay couples to use a surrogate in order to have a child.

The community’s umbrella group, The Agudah, announced the strike in a post to its Facebook page Wednesday, shortly after parliament voted on the surrogacy bill, which extends eligibility to women in a same-sex relationship, but not men. The strike was called for Sunday and the organization urged all sympathizers to join the action.

Read more

Israel, Same Sex, Surrogacy

Israel – Netanyahu Voices Support for Surrogacy Births for Gay Men

Source Haaretz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he supports surrogate births for gay men. He spoke at a meeting of Likud’s legislative caucus  that was closed to the media, addressing the issue after it was raised by party MK Amir Ohana.

“I support surrogacy for single fathers,” Netanyahu said. He said he favored amending the law during the current Knesset session if possible, but if not, he said it should be done later on, via reservations to an amendment bill that Ohana raised last week, to permit surrogacy procedures for same-sex couples. 

Read more

Israel, Surrogacy

Israel – SINGLE WOMEN SOON TO GET ACCESS TO SURROGACY, GAY COUPLES DENIED OPTION

Source The Jerusalem Post

A couple with their twin babies delivered by a surrogate mother. [Illustrative] (photo credit: REUTERS)

Until now, state-supported surrogacy has only been available for married heterosexual couples; the new law will expand the eligibility to single women as well.

Single women will soon be entitled to state support for having children through a surrogate mother, but gay couples will not, under the terms of legislation soon to be passed into law.

The surrogacy bill was approved in the Knesset’s Labor, Welfare and Health Committee on Monday for its second and third readings by an 8-4 vote, in a hearing that became noticeably emotional during comments made by two gay MKs, Amir Ohana of Likud and committee member Itzik Shmuli of the Zionist Union.

Read more

Israel, Lesbian, Surrogacy

Israel – This Lesbian Couple Fears for Their Twins’ Lives. But Israel Worries About the Paperwork

Source Haaretz

Last month, the Tel Aviv Family Court ordered the state to recognize the parenthood of a woman whose partner served as a surrogate for her frozen embryos and gave birth to twins. The judge lambasted the government for its role in the affair: The state made the women go through a paper chase to adopt the twins – because the parents were two and a half weeks late in filing their request. And this happened when the babies were in intensive care.

Read more