Same-Sex Couples, Single Men Can for 1st Time Have a Baby Via Surrogacy in Israel

Israeli same-sex couples, single men and transgender people will for the first time be able to have a baby via surrogacy in Israel beginning next week, Israel’s health minister announced. Until now, surrogacy has only been available to heterosexual couples and single women with a genetic link to the baby. The new rules come into effect on January 11, in accordance with a Health Ministry directive to come into compliance with a Supreme Court ruling. The ruling and the new rules end over 10 years of litigation in the Supreme Court over the issue. “From now on, we will treat each parent and each family equally. Everyone has a right to parenthood, straights and LGBT, singles and couples,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, who is gay and has a life partner, said Tuesday in announcing the new directive. Israel’s Supreme Court in February 2020 struck down the law that prevented single men and gay couples from using a surrogate. Those people would routinely go overseas to have a baby via surrogacy. In July, the Supreme Court announced that any laws that prevent all Israelis from using surrogacy in Israel would be invalid after six months.