While I have seen many discussions on the post factum consequences of surrogacy, I have seen no discussion of its le-khathila permissibility. Specifically, may a man procure sperm to have his wife’s eggs fertilized through IVF and then implanted in a gentile surrogate, with the understanding that the child will be converted and raised as a Jew by the genetic parents?
In answer to your first question, in the opinion of the late Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach there is no le-khathila permission for surrogate motherhood.
In contrast, Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg (R. Auerbach’s son-in-law) wrote that it may be possible to permit surrogate motherhood le-khathila if there is strict rabbinical supervision of the entire procedure.
In answer to your second question, it is forbidden to use a gentile surrogate mother, even if one intends to convert the offspring afterwards.
אישתי בחודש תשיעי ובצום תשעה באב היא תהיה לאחר התאריך המשוער שלה. ברצוני לשאול האם היא תהיה חייבת לצום בתשעה באב או שבגלל שהיא עברה
האם השימוש בפרוטקאייד (ספוגית למניעת הריון) מותר הלכתית?
