A Decade in the Making, Egg Donation Bill Passes Knesset
By Elana Sztokman June 8, 2010
The Knesset passed a revolutionary egg donor law this week, easing the path for women to use egg donations from Israeli women. As Sisterhood editor Gabi Birkner wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal article, egg donation in Israel has been a topic of major controversy in Israel, due in large part to rabbinic statements and rulings that have placed considerable obstacles in front of women seeking out egg donations as well as surrogate mothers. The religious issues compounded the many ethical, logistical and economic issues that infertile women face worldwide.
The new law, which had been stalling between Knesset readings for 10 years before it was passed, enables women up to age 54 to receive egg donations, and thus offers tremendous assistance to women who have trouble conceiving. Until now, women seeking egg donors, for the most part, have had to go outside of Israel, at tremendous expense and hassle. The law, which goes into effect in six months, allows Israeli women ages 21-34 to become donors, allows women to begin the process even if they have not been undergoing fertility treatments, and enables the donor to receive several thousand dollars in payment in order to cover missed work days, the same way sperm donors receive compensation. Women can donate eggs up to three times during their lifetime, with a mandated six months’ gap in between donations. They can donate their to no more than three women.
The law also establishes a committee to examine “exceptional” cases, such as a case in which a woman wants to donate eggs to her sister. The committee will also be charged with preventing “egg trafficking”. In addition, a confidential database will be established to keep private, closed records of donor and recipient identities. The purpose of the database is to prevent marriage between close relatives.
The law was greeted with praise — and relief — by women’s groups and health advocates alike. MK Haim Katz, Chair of the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee, who had brought the law to the Knesset following extensive discussions with the Ministry of Health, said, “This is undoubtedly one of the most important pieces of legislation in the area of health that our committee has dealt with.”
Attorney Mira Hibner-Harel, the Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Health, concurred. “A 10-year effort finally paid off.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
