Women denied a religious divorce would be eligible to receive sperm donations under a reform being advanced by Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, despite the vehement opposition of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.
Horowitz instructed ministry officials to change the protocol in order to include these women on the list of those eligible for sperm donation in order to become pregnant. The change is expected to take effect within a few weeks.
Currently, a married woman needs her husband’s approval in order to undergo in vitro fertilization. Women who are denied religious divorces are considered married by the rabbinate, which prevents them from undergoing IVF. Under the new protocol, these women would be eligible to receive a sperm donation from a stranger in order to undergo IVF after presenting a document from the National Insurance Institute attesting to their status and thus not be dependent on their erstwhile husbands.”