Find Jewish Egg Donors

Is Jewish egg donation allowed? What makes a donor-conceived child Jewish?

Most rabbinic authorities hold that egg donation and surrogacy are allowed under Jewish law. However, the rabbinical world is divided on whether an intended parent should find a donor who is Jewish. The Conservative and Orthodox Movements suggest that the egg donor must be fully Jewish, while the Reform Movement suggests that as long as the Intended Parent is Jewish, the child is considered Jewish as well.

Case study of a Jewish Family: Joseph and Sara

Joseph contacted us after many years of fertility treatment in Europe. Living in France, where compensated egg donation is illegal, combined with their Orthodox Jewish background, meant that coming to the United States for fertility treatment was mired in controversy for them. They wanted to find a Jewish egg donor who not only was similar in appearance to Sara, but who was raised in the Orthodox tradition. They wanted proof that their egg donor had a Bat Mitzvah, and that her family lineage was fully Jewish.

Joseph and Sara spoke only French, so we translated all of the egg donor profiles for them into their language. After just two weeks of searching, we found 38 fully Jewish egg donor candidates for them. These were all egg donors who were from verified Jewish backgrounds, were similar in physical traits to Sara, who understood the importance of the Jewish faith and most importantly, were available and willing to commit to an egg donation cycle.