Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel

Susan Kahn’s “Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel”brings together multiple ethnographical accounts to paint the reality of reproductive technology in Israel. The overwhelming acceptance of assisted fertility technology in such a place requires a deeper analysis behind such motivations of acceptance. In the introduction Kahn lays out an important undertone felt by many within Israeli society. She says, “The barren woman is an archetype of suffering… from the childlessness of the Matriarchs in the book of Genesis… to the later biblical image of Hannah weeping over her inability to have children, Israelis learn that barrenness is a tragic fate for a woman” (3). This undertone is perpetuated by the Jewish commandment for men to procreate and the concept that Jewish women have Jewish babies regardless of the father’s religious identity. In Israeli society the fate of the Jewish people relies in the hands of Jewish women and in their abilities to procreate. “The overwhelming desire to create Jewish babies deeply informs the Israeli embrace of reproductive technology” (3). Remembering the deep tragedies of a woman’s inability to reproduce and her quintessential role in the continuum of Judaism constructs a positive narrative around assisted fertility technology in Israel.

The first chapter recounts the stories of many unmarried women living in Israel who have turned to artificial insemination to carry out their desires to have children. From the many different cultural accounts of these women, there seems to be a few underlying themes. The first is the support from the Israeli government for single unmarried women. Regardless of motive, the state “subsidizes single parents in three main areas: housing, childcare and tax exemptions… This support indicates that the state feels a responsibility toward the children being raised by single parents and exhibits an appreciation for the financial difficulties they face.” State support is not only limited to individuals who are already single parents in fact it encourages single women in the pursuit of parenthood. “These state policies… also subsidize the pursuit of single parenthood (and) contribute to the growing social acceptance of unmarried mothers” (16). By providing financial support before and during conception, the Israeli government provides easy access for unmarried women to reproduce. This also creates an interesting dynamic since financial support provides the state with more control over reproductive rights. An example is the extensive interviews and background checks women must pass for a doctor to approve of them becoming a mother. Another is the fact that a doctor can deny a woman of assisted fertility technology if she is a lesbian. Lastly, something I found quite frightening that, in my opinion, infringes upon a woman’s reproductive rights was the influence the Israeli government potentially has on choosing the sperm donor.

In what Kahn refers to as ‘Stage 4: “Choosing” Sperm’ out of her 8-stage artificial conception process she recounts the experiences of multiple women who were told it was best to choose sperm donors who resembled the women or were of similar Ashkenazi descent. “We see in these accounts how women were encouraged to choose sperm that ‘looked like them,’ which in most cases meant ‘light’ or of Ashkenazi origin” (37). The reasoning behind this encouragement was assured to the women by doctors and nurses in that having a child that more closely resembled someone else was unfair to the child who would never know that person. To me this decision is creepy. Especially given the scientific understanding that choosing sperm from more diverse origins produces taller and more intelligent children as well as less genetic mutations which are abnormally present in the Ashkenazi gene pool. What I find uneasy about these ‘suggestions’ from doctors and nurses is the link to the government. The influence the state has on deciding who can and cannot donate sperm, as well as the possible influence on persuading women to choose sperm donors that ‘look like them’ is a conflict of interest. I cannot speculate on what these interests encompass, but I do find the encouragement of genetic inbreeding of ‘lighter’ Ashkenazi Jews to be disturbing and not far from the Darwinian ideology leading to the horrors of World War II. This is where the line of freedom becomes tricky. The fertility clinics restrict sperm donations to young medical and law students allowing the government to regulate who the father is. I personally believe that the government should have no say in a woman’s reproductive rights. However, this belief I hold is mainly concerned with abortion rights. Does the financial support for reproductive technology from the state of Israel, which I see as a good thing, outweigh the concerning influence the state may have on these children? Is it okay for Israel to genetically design their future populations through assisted fertility technology? Is this desire to create ‘lighter’ Ashkenazi Jews really that different than religious laws preventing sexual relations between different sects or religions? The influence the Israeli government has on reproductive technologies, especially through financial support, truly brings up the question: if the state acts as a paternal figure economically what other potential paternal rights does the Israeli government have over the inception, growth, and development of these children?

Another prominent theme in this book was the acceptance of these Jewish children into society after birth. I enjoyed the stories of how mothers went about explaining the lack of a father to their children. I laughed at the part where one woman, Nomi, recalled her detailed explanation to a friend of her daughter, Yuval, as to why her daughter did not have a father to which “Yuval cut in and said ’Ima (Mom), stop the shit, I don’t have a father’” (48). It reminded me of the adaptability of children and how irrelevant and unrealistic the concept of a perfect nuclear family really is. Balance does not come from two parents but from a community of loving individuals who have the child’s best interests at heart. It was touching to read the accounts of grandparents who were initially unaccepting of their daughters becoming pregnant in this way only to completely reverse ideologies once the baby arrived. Stories like these bring up the juxtaposition between artificial insemination and life. We use the term ‘artificial’ to describe an alternative pathway to the most natural process known to man, reproduction. What is ‘artificial’ about removing sexual intercourse from the creation of a human? There seems to be great stigmatism around assisted conception, yet when the baby arrives there is life which includes excitement, joy, and endless possibilities. The child now represents nothing artificial and everything natural, the child is alive. How can we view something so natural as the reproduction of our own kind as ‘artificial’ based on the means through which it was created?  On many of the cultural accounts these babies were enveloped into the dynamics of their extended families and were well incorporated into the Israeli society. This incorporation definitely has something to do with Halakha, or Hebrew law. “For children born to unmarried Jewish women are not Halakhically considered ‘illegitimate,’ contrary to traditional common law in Euro-American notions of bastardy in which children born out of wedlock are considered illegitimate… Thus, children born to unmarried Jewish women are considered to be full-fledged, marriageable Jews” (74-75). The Halakha acceptance of children born to unmarried Jewish women is an important aspect in the acceptance and access to assisted fertility technology for unmarried women in Israel.

            In Chapter 4 Kahn expands the dialogue of assisted fertility technology to include ovum-related technologies. After explaining the details of the procedure, she goes into the Halakhic concerns about this use of technology. This brings up a very interesting dialogue around “Who is the mother? The woman who donates the egg or the woman who carries the pregnancy and gives birth” (128)? Throughout the chapter this topic is debated through different points of view from different religious scholars. Although I understand the importance of determining whether the child is truly Jewish or not, I personally think it should be a decision each parent makes for their child. More than DNA or the uterus from which they came the most defining feature of a child is the process of development. If this child is raised in a Jewish community by Jewish parents and given a bar or bat mitzvah then they have accepted Judaism. However, I highly doubt that the Jewish community would accept this logic. In my experience Rabbis love intricate and illogical explanations for abstract concepts. An example of the need to come up with explanations is in the shammash candle in the menorah. It is prohibited to use the light from a menorah for any type of work, yet we cannot help but use the light to see as we look around the room. To solve this, it is said that the Shammash candle is what is giving us the light to do work while the other 8 candles are not used. I expect a similar conclusion to be made about the legitimacy of a Jewish child born with ovum-technology. Intricate laws and details will be made surrounding each case and each possible scenario. In the end, however, the perpetuation of Judaism relies in the hand of Jewish women. In how a child is raised and by whom not by the laws set forth by these rabbis on the technicality of Jewish DNA. We use light from all 9 candles, but we say we only use one; this arbitrary logic may work for candles on Hannukah, but it is much more difficult to incorporate into the religion of a child.  

            In conclusion this book showed a very interesting representation of social, cultural, and legal norms around reproductive technologies in Israel. In my opinion, as these technologies improve and are further incorporated into our world, those societies that embrace the wonders of the creation of life rather than focus on the ‘artificial’ aspect will reap the benefits. After all, despite the immense gender inequality within Christianity, Islam, and Judaism they all share a dependence upon women to continue their traditions. To lose track of the importance of women and impose strict regulations on reproductive rights will eventually lead to their own downfall. After all, without Jewish women reproducing there is no Judaism.

-Elie York