Assisted reproduction: a Jewish perspective.

Judaism values medicine as a noble profession. Physicians are mandated by the Bible to heal, and those who are ill are obligated to seek healing from their physicians. In Jewish thought, infertility is considered an illness. Hence, in spite of many Jewish legal and ethical questions, assisted reproductive techniques such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogate motherhood, within certain limited circumstances, are viewed with favor by most current rabbinic authorities, provided the couple is unable to have a child in the normal manner and after standard medical or surgical interventions have failed.