The Jewish Agency for Israel is now the first public institution in Israel to help employees finance surrogacy services abroad. The loan is valued at approximately $11,000.
Gay men prohibited by law from using surrogates in Israel are the first to benefit. Employees living in a Jewish community abroad can also benefit from the system.
The Jewish Agency’s Chairman of the Executive, Isaac Herzog, said that the organization recognizes ” the right of every man or woman to actualize their wish to be parents and to raise a family, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation”.
This decision comes despite the Knesset’s rejection last November of a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to have children by surrogacy (see Israel rejects surrogacy for single men and gay couples and Israel, extension of the surrogacy law overturned).
The Times of Israël, Marcy Oster (5/03/19) – Jewish Agency to help its gay employees pay for surrogate services overseas