View source for Israel

{{Country
|name=Israel
|image_flag=Israel-flag.jpg
|Region=Asia
|Population=7282000
|GDP=161,935
|Eggs for assisted reproduction=commercial prohibited
|Eggs for research=commercial prohibited
|Inheritable genetic modification=no policy
|Preimplantation genetic diagnosis=social uses prohibited
|Reproductive cloning=PROHIBITED
|Research cloning=permitted
|Sex selection=?
|Surrogacy=commercial allowed
|European Union=
|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development=
|Council of Europe=
|1997 COE Biomedicine Convention=n/a
|1998 COE Cloning Convention=n/a
|2005 UN Cloning Vote=abstained
|2005 UNESCO Sports Doping Convention=
|Treaty of Lisbon=n/a
|Introduction=
|Key laws and policies=IVF Treatments: 

* Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 KT No. 5035, p. 987


Egg Donation:

* Ova Donation Law, 5770-2010 , SH No. 2242, p. 520,  (passed on June 13, 2010) 


Surrogacy: 

* Carriage of Fetuses (Approval of Agreement and Status of the New Born) Law, 5756-1996  
**[Also sometimes referred to as the Embryo Carrying Agreement Act (Agreement Authorization & Status of the Newborn Child) 1996; or the Surrogate Motherhood Agreements (Approval of Agreement and Status of the Newborn) Law] 


Sperm Donation:

* Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 KT No. 5035, p. 987
Ministry of Health guidelines regarding sperm donations.


Other Guidelines:

* The Israel Fertility Association also publishes professional guidelines from time to time. (See http://www.ayala.org.il/?CategoryID=239.)


Other:

* A person’s right to procreate has been recognized in Supreme Court rulings. In the leading case of ''Nachmani v Nachmani'', the Court held that in the special circumstances of that case, the right of a woman to motherhood was superior to her husband’s right not to be a father.
|Foundational values=
|Prohibited practices='''Reproductive Cloning'''

* Bans on reproductive cloning and inheritable genetic modification in Prohibition of Genetic Intervention expired on March 1, 2009. The reproductive cloning portion was extended until May 2016.<ref name="JPost">Judy Siegel-Itzkovich. "[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255450644033&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull Anti-cloning law renewed for 7 years]." ''The Jerusalem Post'', (October 13th, 2009).</ref>
|Permitted and regulated practices='''Research Cloning'''

* Research cloning is permitted, under guidelines.<ref name=hfea> Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (UK), "[http://www.hfea.gov.uk/en/1579.html Hybrids and Chimeras: Findings of the Consultation, Annex C – International Perspective]." (September 5, 2007).</ref>



'''Assisted Reproduction: IVF'''

Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 were issued by the Minister of Health in April 1987. The regulations require that: 
*Any extraction, fertilization, or implantation of ova from or in a woman’s body must be done in a hospital department that has officially been accredited in the official gazette for performing activities related to IVF. 

* To access IVF treatment conditions must be met, including that:
**The couple have no children in their present marriage 
**The woman is a childless woman 
**The patient is less than 44 years old


'''Egg Donation'''

* Ova Donation Law, 5770-2010 , SH No. 2242

* Conditions for egg donation:
**Resident of Israel; 
**A woman whose age is 18-53 
**The woman has a medical problem justifying the use of a donated egg

* In order for egg donation to take place, it is necessary to obtain an approval from a certification committee (which is established by the director of the hospital) under the provisions of the Egg Donation Law. The certificate is valid for one year. 

* The egg donor must sign a consent to the procedure. 

* A child born as a consequence of ova donation will be considered the child of the ova recipient (§ 42(a)). The donation severs any relationship of the donor and her relatives to the child (§ 42(c)).

* The law restricts the extraction and donation of ova exclusively for the purpose of the birth of a child (§ 3). 

* Under certain conditions, however, ova that were extracted for this purpose may be used for research (§§ 27-29). 

* The law regulates the export of ova outside of Israel and the provision of medical treatment in donors and recipients for the performance of surrogacy motherhood contracts (§§ 5-7).

* The law prohibits trade in ova (§§ 8-10).  However, the State reimburses the donor for undergoing extraction of ova for the purpose of implantation in an amount established by the Minister of Health, with the consent of the Minister of the Treasury and the approval of the Knesset Committee for Labor, Welfare and Health. The State also reimburses a donor who is a patient half of that amount for her consent to allocate extra ova for implantation. The money paid to donors is partially derived from the fee paid by applicants requesting approval for ova implantation.

* There are penalties for violating the law (§ 41). 



'''Sperm Donation'''

* Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 KT No. 5035, p. 987

* Sperm donation is permitted only by single men between the ages of 20-35. The donation has to be anonymous.

* The Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 set special conditions for the use of semen for in vitro fertilization. 
**Ova extracted from a married woman will not be fertilized with the semen of a donor or semen received from the donor's bank unless both the donor of the ova and her husband consent to the implant in advance and in writing (§ 6). 
** Ova of a donor will not be fertilized with the semen of the husband of the woman in which they will be implanted after fertilization in the absence of such consent (§ 7).
**Implantation of fertilized ova in single women is permitted subject to the following conditions: 
***the ova are hers and a report by a social worker of the IVF-accredited department supports her request; 
***the fertilized ova’s owner was widowed prior to the implantation, as long as the fertilized ova will not be implanted in her during the first year following the  extraction and fertilization of the ova and the implantation is supported by a report; or 
***the woman in whom implantation is planned is a divorcee whose ova were fertilized with her husband’s semen prior to the divorce, only after receipt of the husband’s consent (§ 8).



'''Posthumous Use of Gametes'''

* Posthumous use of gametes is generally prohibited (Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 KT No. 5035, p. 987 §§  10, 12).



'''Access to Information'''

* The Public Health (In Vitro Fertilization) Regulations 5747-1987 prohibit the disclosure of identifying information regarding ova or semen donors (§ 15).



'''Surrogacy Arrangements'''

* Surrogacy arrangements are permitted only in accordance with Carriage of Fetuses (Approval of Agreement and Status of the New Born) Law, 5756-1996.

The following conditions must be met in order to enter into a surrogacy agreement (§ 2):  

* A written agreement between the surrogate mother and the designated parents must have been approved by the approval committee. 
* The parties to the agreement must be eighteen years old or older and must be Israeli residents.
* The surrogate mother must be unmarried (except that the approval committee may approve a surrogate who is married if it is convinced that the designated parents could not, after reasonable effort, engage in a surrogacy agreement with a surrogate who is single) and must not be a relative of any of the designated parents.
* The semen used for the IVF is of the designated father and the ova is not of the surrogate; (i.e. "gestational" surrogacy is permitted but "traditional" surrogacy is not).
* The surrogate must belong to the same religion as the designated mother, but if all parties to the agreement are not Jewish, the committee may deviate from this requirement in accordance with an opinion of a religious official who is a member of the committee. 

* In addition, at present the intending parents must be married or common law couples (but see below regarding proposed changes); the intending mother must be under 54; there must be medical certification confirming the intending mother cannot get pregnant; and a psych or social worker must approve the agreement saying that the parents received appropriate professional advice. 

* The surrogate must be an Israeli citizen, aged under 38, and have medical certification of health and psychological evaluation.

* Pre-approval by the relevant State authorities is required. (See Board for approval: http://www.health.gov.il/English/Services/Committees/Embryo_Carrying_Agreements/Pages/default.aspx.)

*The surrogacy agreement must be submitted to the authorized committee to approve the agreement, which must: 
**Ensure that it meets the conditions set in the law
**Be convinced that both parties signed it in free will 
**Establish that there are no risks to the mother’s health or to the child’s welfare


'''Legal Parentage in Surrogacy'''
* According to the relevant legislation, upon the birth of the child, the birth mother is considered the legal mother of the child and the intended parents have to receive a court order establishing their legal parentage following the birth of the child. The record of the surrogacy arrangement is confidential and sealed.

* Nevertheless, the 1998 Embryo Carrying Agreement Ordinances (Agreement Authorization & Status of the Newborn) (Registry), created a registry in which all successful surrogacy procedures are registered. The registry must contain the names and details of the child, surrogate, and intended parents and all changes and updates must also be submitted to the registrar.
|Regulatory activities=
|Accountability and governance=
|History='''Surrogacy to Date'''

* Surrogacy arrangements have been permitted for 18 years in Israel pursuant to the above conditions.
* Of 1,042 applications by couples who opened files, 1,026 couples were approved.
* Applications by couples who opened a file with the Board and were rejected:
** 5 couples due to the woman’s age, which was over 52 years
** 2 couples who have 3 children and sought surrogacy for a fourth child
** 7 couples due to partners’ health issues
** By the end of 2013, 516 children had been born in Israel through surrogacy procedures.



'''Proposed Changes to Surrogacy Laws in Israel'''

Note: The following information is extracted from the Ministry of Health explanation of proposed changes to the laws available at: http://www.health.gov.il/English/Topics/fertility/Surrogacy/Pages/default.aspx, (accessed 21 February 2015).

* A new bill has been proposed that will broaden access to surrogacy in Israel. (Note: The proposed laws have been approved by the government but are not finalized. They must be debated by the Knesset, which consults with the public, and considers each clause. It may change the law and remove/add clauses and conditions.)

* The bill is based on two principles:
** Equality: All are equal, without regard to sexual orientation or structure of the family unit. 
** Right to Parenthood: Everybody has a right to parenthood and to realize this. 

The proposed bill would address:
* Broadening of the possibilities for entering into a surrogacy arrangement by payment in Israel, enabling men without a female partner and women without a male partner to also enter into a surrogacy arrangement
* Broadening of possibilities for being a surrogate to also include married women, cousins, and women up to age 38
* Provision of the possibility for men to receive egg donations in Israel and to import eggs donated overseas
* Regulation of payments for surrogacy (NIS 160,000)
* Provision of the possibility for the intended parent’s partner to receive a court order appointing him/her as the child’s parent, without the need for adoption, if the Approvals Board’s approval is received at the commencement of the process

There proposed law also includes limitations:
* Limitation of age of the intended parents to 54
* Limitations in the number of children for intended parents 
* Requirement for a psychological and medical opinion regarding the intended parents and the surrogate 
* Requirement for checks of parents’ criminal records for sexual and violent crimes
|External links=See The Law Library of Congress, Israel: Reproduction and Abortion: Law and Policy – February 2012, available at http://www.loc.gov/law/help/israel_2012-007460_IL_FINAL.pdf, (accessed February 2015).
}}
== References ==
<references/>