Jan 21-27

Q: How many halakhic mothers would a female cloned from a female have?

ABSTRACT

The ethical implications of turning humans into instruments—but at the same time the potential to use human clones to save other human lives—has led to a divergence of opinions among rabbinical scholars who have tackled the question of human cloning.

While no clear consensus exists as to whether human cloning is "kosher," Jewish scholars have analyzed the situation and have identified some major halakhic (Jewish legal) issues, of which this paper discusses the following points: Can human cloning be accepted on any level? Analysis of this question will include discussion of Torah sources as well as writings by modern experts in Jewish bioethics. Does cloning entail the creation of life? Does the production of clones usurp the role of the Creator? The concept of creation from nothing versus creation from something, and the relationship of cloning to the production of a golem will be discussed. What are the family relationships of a clone? Does cloning fulfill the biblical obligation to be "fruitful and multiply?"or does it violate G-d’s mandate to us?

Would it be the female DNA donor, the egg donor, or the woman who carries the pregnancy? Based on rabbinic analysis of in vitro fertilization, egg donation, and surrogate motherhood, the woman who gives birth is clearly accepted as a mother. As described above, Bleich suggests, however, that the egg donor has at least an equal claim on this status, and thus there may be two halakhic mothers. According to views of the late Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, as cited by Bleich, if both egg donor and surrogate are considered mothers, and if either the egg donor or the gestational mother is not Jewish, the Jewish status of the child would be in doubt, and the child would have to be converted to be considered a Jew. Thus, when a female is cloned, the situation could entail one, two or three halakhic mothers: the DNA donor, the egg donor and the gestational woman.

BIO
After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College, Miriam Z. Wahrman completed a PhD in biochemistry at Cornell University in 1981. She worked as an associate researcher at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer in New York in 1981; as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy of Cornell University in 1982; and as an instructor in the Department of Obstectrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in 1983. In 1984 she became an assistant professor of biology at William Paterson College. From 1995 to today she has been professor of biology at William Paterson University of New Jersey, where since 1997 she has also been its director of general education. Professor Wahrman has published many articles on many aspects of cell biology in professional journals and participated in the publication of four books on biology and genetics. She has published dozens of articles on topics related to the interface of genetics and medical ethics with Jewish life and halakha (law) for the Jewish press throughout North America and Germany.
wahrman@aol.com

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