Assisted reproduction: a Jewish perspective
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Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Ploidy Manipulation of Zebrafish Embryos with Heat Shock 2 Treatment
Published on: December 16, 2016
1Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Services at Queens Hospital Center, 82-68 164th Street, Jamaica, NY 11432, USA.
Abstract:
Judaism values medicine as a noble profession. Physicians are mandated by the Bible to heal, and those who are ill are obligated to seek healing from their physicians. In Jewish thought, infertility is considered an illness. Hence, in spite of many Jewish legal and ethical questions, assisted reproductive techniques such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogate motherhood, within certain limited circumstances, are viewed with favor by most current rabbinic authorities, provided the couple is unable to have a child in the normal manner and after standard medical or surgical interventions have failed.
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