Family of soldier killed on Gaza border looking for surrogate mother

The law in Israel does yet not allow the use of the seed of a dead person for the parents if they request it, though a bill to do so was passed in the Knesset.

 21-year-old St.-Sgt. Bar-el Shmueli from Beer Yaakov, shot by a Palestinian militant during Gaza border riots (photo credit: BORDER POLICE)
21-year-old St.-Sgt. Bar-el Shmueli from Beer Yaakov, shot by a Palestinian militant during Gaza border riots
(photo credit: BORDER POLICE)

The sister of an IDF soldier who was shot and killed by a terrorist at short-range on the Gaza Strip border, St.-Sgt. Barel Hadaria Shmueli, posted a message on her Instagram account on Thursday night, asking for a woman who would be willing to raise a child from her brother's sperm.

"We are looking for the one who will join our family, give birth and raise a child of our Barel," wrote his sister Hila, and even asked her followers to share the post.

Barel's parents have recently been struggling through the media over a request to use his sperm in order to produce "continuity."

The law in Israel does yet not allow the use of the seed of a dead person for the parents if they request it, though a bill to do so was passed in the Knesset. 

A bill that would allow bereaved parents of soldiers to use the sperm of their dead children passed a preliminary reading in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation last week, giving hope to parents fighting to become grandparents. The proposed bill, known as the continuity bill, was approved by a consensus of 52 in favor.

Shmueli was shot and killed on the Gaza border in August by a Palestinian gunman during a riot along the border. An IDF investigation found that the decision to keep troops along the border fence wall despite violent rioters being in close proximity was a professional error that led to his death.

Jerusalem Post Staff and Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.