חוק הסכמים לנשיאת עוברים (אישור הסכם ומעמד היילוד), תשנ"ו-1996 (Agreements for the Carrying of Fetuses (Confirmation of the Agreement and the Status of the Newborn))

The law governs agreements between the intended parents and a surrogate (the person who carries the pregnancy). The law allows for the use of the intended parents’ sperm and egg, or an egg from a donor other than the surrogate. The agreement must be approved by a special committee. The law enables the committee to approve conditions in the agreement concerning monthly payments to the surrogate for expenses incurred from the agreement as well as compensation for waste of time, suffering, loss of income or temporary loss of earning power or any other reasonable compensation (these payments are allowed). A request for the committee’s approval must include a proposal for the surrogate agreement, a medical opinion from a specialist doctor attesting to the intended mother’s medical inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy; a second specialist medical opinion attesting to the health of the surrogate and their fitness to carry a pregnancy; a psychologist’s evaluation of the surrogate attesting to their suitability to carry a pregnancy; a second psychologist’s evaluation of the intended parents attesting to their suitability for surrogacy; and a confirmation from a psychologist or social worker attesting that the intended parents have received appropriate counseling regarding the procedure and alternative options. To qualify as a surrogate, a person must be a resident of Israel; be unmarried (although the committee can waive this requirement upon a showing from the intended parents that they were unable to find an unmarried surrogate); not be related to the intended parents; have conceived and given birth in the past outside of surrogacy, and have custody of those children; be between 22 and 39 years old; have given birth no more than four times; have carried no more than two surrogate pregnancies; and have given birth no more than once via surrogacy. The intended parents must be between 18 and 54 (although the committee may waive the upper age limit); have no more than two children together; and never have been convicted of any crime that suggests that they would be a danger to the child. The intended mother must also be the same religion as the surrogate (although the committee can waive this requirement if all parties are not Jewish).