Same-sex couples are allowed to use surrogate mothers in Israel to have children, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Sunday, a measure hailed by some as vital to equality but seen by conservatives as eroding family values.
Surrogacy restrictions (surrogacy) for same-sex couples must be lifted within six months, the court said. “We cannot accept the persistent and contrary to human rights prejudice of the existing surrogacy system,” President Esther Hayut wrote in her decision. This is the culmination of a fight of more than 10 years for its defenders.
Best student in the Middle East
When it comes to gay rights, Israel is the best student in the Middle East. The Jewish state has several openly gay men in parliament, but until now, surrogacy has remained prohibited for same-sex couples. The latter used surrogacy in countries such as India, Nepal, Thailand and the United States. Surrogacy was legalized in Israel in 1996, but only for heterosexual couples and then for single women.
In 2010, homosexual couple Etai and Yoav Arad-Pinkas were the first to take the matter to court. After a first failure, in 2015 they launched a petition with groups defending the rights of LGBTQ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer). Last year, the Supreme Court ordered lawmakers to end discrimination over surrogacy within 12 months, saying the exclusion of same-sex couples and single men was unconstitutional.
“The collapse of the Jewishness of the State of Israel”
But ultra-Orthodox conservative lawmakers in Israel’s parliament have thwarted a proposal to expand access to this procedure. Oz Parvin, head of the Israeli Gay Fathers Association, called the court ruling on Sunday “unbelievable.” With his partner, he himself had used surrogacy in India nine years ago.
Far-right MP Bezalel Smotrich of the opposition religious Zionism party told him the move was a sign of “the collapse of the Jewishness of the State of Israel.” This decision is likely to cause friction within the new government coalition. This indeed includes the Meretz formation – of which President Nitzan Horowitz is openly gay – but also the conservative Islamist Raam, who described homosexuals as “deviants”.