Donating Sperm / Artificial Insemination

I would like like to know if I’m allowed to donate sperm to a sperm bank? And if I am does the receiver need to be Jewish or it’s not a problem with other (I’m sorry for asking that type of question but I really wanna know) Thank you!

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

A Jewish man may not be a sperm donor.

There are a number of reason for this:

1. Sperm may only be released during intercourse between husband and wife. To donate sperm to a sperm bank would require a non-intimate manual stimulation which is forbidden.

2. There would be no mitzva involved if the sperm went to a non-Jew – something that is likely to happen in most of the world.

3. There is also the concern that if a Jewish woman was indeed to be impregnated by such sperm, siblings with the same father could possible end up marrying each other which is forbidden.

It must be emphasized that the issue of artificial insemination is one of the most serious and sensitive halachic issues. No proceedings may begin in this area until a competent rabbi has been consulted. We will also note that not all treatments have rabbinic support. So too, many rabbis require the couple to have tried for a certain amount of years to conceive naturally before proceeded to medically assisted conception.