A much earlier work on Jewish law and ethics, the Talmud, doesn t offer much guidance on reproductive medicine, said Tendler. Asking a relative, for instance, a sister, to be a surrogate, likewise, would violate the prohibition against incest, he said. Similarly, Tendler argued, a woman who donates her eggs for payment is on a slippery slope. Feldman agreed that paying a donor for her eggs does skirt the bounds of what s permissible, coming dangerously close to harvesting organs for money, which is not sanctioned. But, he said, Jewish law does not allow a woman to put her own body at risk to donate an organ or eggs.
Different questions arise over the religious background of the donor.
When a donor is not Jewish, there may be concern that the baby will not be Jewish. But that issue is moot, said Feldman. Even if eggs are from a non-Jewish woman, the birth process makes the child Jewish, he said. But couples who insist on a Jewish donor run a different risk. Known as consanguinity, it is a violation of the prohibition against incest.