Coalition blocks bill granting surrogate parenthood rights to homosexual men

Coalition members vote down a bill to grant the right to surrogate parenthood for gay men presented by the opposition after lawmakers recently extended eligibility to single women, but not to men.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially expressed support for a clause to be added to the legislation that would have extended surrogacy rights to gay couples, but in June, made an about-face and voted against the amendment, sparking a series of mass protests supporting LGBT rights.

The latest bill rejected explained that “in recent years a phenomenon of Israelis traveling abroad has developed in order to bring a child into the world through a surrogate resident of the foreign country. In light of the fact that surrogacy outside of Israel has not yet been regulated by Israeli legislation, it raises many legal and moral difficulties, and the State of Israel is required to retroactively recognize and grant the child Israeli citizenship.”