Man who refused wife divorce demands embryo in return for annulment
Women’s rights group says the rabbinical court pressured the man's wife to accept a deal in order to obtain her divorce.
By JEREMY SHARONA medical technician prepares embryo and sperm samples for freezing at the Laboratory of Reproductive Biology CECOS of Tenon Hospital in Paris, France, September 19, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/BENOIT TESSIER)
A man who has refused to give his wife a bill of divorce over the last 18 months has demanded she grant him the right to use a frozen embryo created for the couple several years in a surrogacy process ago before he will consent to terminate the marriage.According to the Center for Women’s Justice (CWJ), which has advised the woman, the rabbinical judges strongly recommended to her she accept the demand in order to avoid becoming a long term aguna, or chained woman who cannot remarry.Before the husband got married, he was diagnosed with cancer and needed to undergo chemotherapy.Before doing so, he froze sperm so in case he was rendered infertile from the treatment he would still be able to father children.After marrying, his wife underwent fertility treatment and several embryos were created, one of which was successfully implanted and led to the birth of a baby for the couple, although one frozen embryo remained from the process.Eventually, the couple sort to divorce, opening a divorce file in the Petah Tikva rabbinical court in the middle of 2018.But the husband, knowing he can not father any more children, demanded, in return for granting a divorce, his wife either undergo fertility treatment herself to have the last remaining embryo implanted, or to give him ownership over the embryo so he could have another child through a surrogate mother.The judges of the rabbinical court, rabbis Avraham Shemen, Avraham Avidar, and David Grozman issued a ruling that the embryo did not belong to either parent and the husband’s demand his wife get pregnant from the embryo was not reasonable.According to CWJ, however, during a hearing on the case in the rabbinical court the judges strongly encouraged her to agree to the husband’s demands to avoid becoming a long-term agunah.The woman, who is in her early 40s, wants to have another child and was concerned that should she be trapped in the marriage by her estranged husband she would soon not be able to conceive again with a new partner.She, therefore, reluctantly agreed to the husband’s demand, and in November, the rabbinical court drew up the terms of the divorce agreement, including stipulations she sign the necessary documents giving the husband ownership over the embryo.“The rabbinical court conducted lengthy negotiations between the sides in which the sides ultimately reached a divorce agreement,” the rabbinical judges wrote in their November 5th decision.A date for the final arrangement of the divorce was set for this week, but the husband made further documentary demands of the woman and a new date has now been scheduled for next week.CWJ said the case raises “legitimate legal, moral and ethical questions that must be addressed and adjudicated fairly,” alongside consideration of the law and the difficult circumstances of the case.It said, however, the rabbinical court, has “chosen to disregard all of the aforementioned questions – and even the law – by prioritizing the husband’s price for the get [bill of divorce] above all else.”The organization said, “Even in its own ruling, the rabbinic court acknowledges that neither party has legal ownership over the embryo. Yet, despite this, the rabbinic court still pressured the woman to sign an agreement contrary to her rights and against her own interests, in order to satisfy the man’s extortionate demands for the get.”
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