Halachic Approaches to Defining Motherhood in Assisted Reproduction.18,19
| Approach/Criterion | Main Position | Representative Poskim/Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic/Ovum Source | Maternal status is determined primarily by the woman who provides the ovum and genetic material from which the embryo is formed; gestation alone does not displace genetic maternity. | Rabbi J. David Bleich19
Rabbi Shlomo Goren20 |
| Gestational Development | Maternal status is established through fetal development within the woman’s womb. Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli specifically grounds maternity in the gestational mother because the embryo acquires halachically significant fetal status through development in her womb. | Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli21 |
| Birth/Parturition | Parturition establishes a maternal-filial relationship with the woman who gives birth. The possibility that the genetic mother may possess an additional halachic maternal relationship cannot necessarily be excluded. | Rabbi J. David Bleich19 |
| Dual/Safek Maternity | Because the classical sources do not conclusively establish one exclusive criterion, both the genetic mother and the birth mother should be treated as mothers for relevant halachic purposes (le-chumra). | Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach23 |
| IVF-Specific Disruption of Conventional Parentage | Under this distinctive minority approach, fertilization occurring entirely outside the woman’s body may fail to establish ordinary genealogical parenthood. This position should not be classified simply as genetic, gestational, or birth-based maternity. | Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg24 |