The Rabbis - take 2
I had the appointment yesterday with one of the Rabbis from the Pu'ah Institute and learned what I needed for an acceptable collection. (Pu'ah is a Hebrew abbreviation which translates to "Inftertility and Treatment according to Halacha).
According to Halacha, a man is forbidden to 'waste his seed' and the two main ways he can do that is through masturbation and having sex using a barrier method (condom, sponge, diaphragm). This Halacha holds true for medical issues such as fertility treatment and semen analysis.
Now, conventionally, when a couple is going through IUI and/or IVF, collection is done via masturbation or intercourse with a sterile condom. With both of these methods forbidden to a religious Jew, how is a couple experiencing infertility supposed to get pregnant?
Many Rabbis studied, and consulted with more Rabbis and came up with the following...(there might be other ways, but this was what I was told)
If intercourse with a condom is forbidden because it acts like a barrier, if we weaken the barrier and make it POSSIBLY ineffective by jabbing the condom with the point of a needle, then technically, the barrier is compromised and is acceptable to use.
In addition, keeping careful track of the semen through the collection, and washing and insertion is vital. With other various Halachot, a mix-up would be... catastrophic. So at one of the main hospitals in Jerusalem, there are men around the clock, who keep careful track of the semen. This hospital is the only one in Israel (and possibly the world) that has this done all the time, and through the Pu'ah Institute, someone can be called in at one of the other hospitals in Israel (for a small fee, of course).
According to Halacha, a man is forbidden to 'waste his seed' and the two main ways he can do that is through masturbation and having sex using a barrier method (condom, sponge, diaphragm). This Halacha holds true for medical issues such as fertility treatment and semen analysis.
Now, conventionally, when a couple is going through IUI and/or IVF, collection is done via masturbation or intercourse with a sterile condom. With both of these methods forbidden to a religious Jew, how is a couple experiencing infertility supposed to get pregnant?
Many Rabbis studied, and consulted with more Rabbis and came up with the following...(there might be other ways, but this was what I was told)
If intercourse with a condom is forbidden because it acts like a barrier, if we weaken the barrier and make it POSSIBLY ineffective by jabbing the condom with the point of a needle, then technically, the barrier is compromised and is acceptable to use.
In addition, keeping careful track of the semen through the collection, and washing and insertion is vital. With other various Halachot, a mix-up would be... catastrophic. So at one of the main hospitals in Jerusalem, there are men around the clock, who keep careful track of the semen. This hospital is the only one in Israel (and possibly the world) that has this done all the time, and through the Pu'ah Institute, someone can be called in at one of the other hospitals in Israel (for a small fee, of course).