A fifty-nine-year-old, British woman is staging a legal bid to become pregnant with her own grandchild. She and her husband claim it s their daughter s dying wish for her eggs to be fertilized by donor sperm and implanted in her mother despite potential health risks to the woman and unborn child. Reproductive technologies that alleviate the despair of infertility also create tangled scenarios and ethical questions never imagined before. A fascinating discussion of Jewish law will address the questions raised by this case. Is surrogacy permitted by Jewish law? Who is the legal mother and how does it affect the child s Jewishness? Is the use of donor sperm tantamount to adultery? Should there be an age limit for women receiving medical intervention to become pregnant?

This lecture took place at the 10th annual National Jewish Retreat. For more information and to register for the next retreat, visit: Jretreat.com.