Assisted reproductive technology: perspectives in Halakha (Jewish religious law)

Abstract The Jewish religion is characterized by a strict association between faith and practical precepts. In principle, Jewish law has two divisions, the Written and the Oral traditions. The foundation of the Written Law and the origin of authority is the Torah, the first five books of the Scripture. This paper presents the attitude of Jewish religion to assisted reproductive therapeutic procedures such as IVF–embryo transfer, spermatozoa, oocytes, embryo donation, cryopreservation of genetic material, surrogacy, posthumous reproduction, gender preselection and reproductive and therapeutic cloning.