בדיקות ו-IVF כשיש בעיות פוריות הגבר

My name is XX and I am a Rabbi in Cape Town, South Africa. I was one of the group that visited Sha'arei Tzedek in July on the Rabbinic Conference and I spoke to you on the telephone regarding your possible assistance with certain she'alot that have arisen due to infertility issues facing myself and my wife.

At the time you mentioned that I should be in contact with you via the telephone at nights and I have attempted to do so but have missed you several times, so I am now putting down the basic facts of our case in writing which I hope you can respond to in your own time. I will of course continue to try to get hold of you telephonically.

My wife and I have been married for almost 4 years. She is 32 and I am almost 29. After no pregnancies after 2 years we decided to go forward with several tests. My wife has proven to be healthy and has no obvious fertility problems. However after several semen analyses it was shown that my sperm has low motility and that there are great amounts of abnormal sperm. Our doctor is Professor T. Kruger, one of the most respected experts in infertility in the country and probably the world. He is not Jewish but he is aware of the issues facing Frum Yidden as he has assisted many religious couples. As Halachic experts,we have consulted my Rosh Yeshiva and Rabbi Kurstag Shlitah, both of whom have suggested we speak to an expert in these Halachot, such as yourself.

Professor Kruger told us that although it is not impossible to have children naturally in our circumstances, nonetheless the statistics are not high. We waited a full year to see if there might be a chance of natural pregnancy, however we have had no success. We recently met with Professor Kruger and he told us that the preferred treatment in our case would be ICSI, which we would attempt in November 2002.We therefore need to ask you several very practical questions:

1)Is this procedure acceptable according to Halachah?

2)My wife was informed that before we go through with any fertility treatments she would need to be thoroughly examined to see that there are no abnormalities in the womb. As such she would need the following procedures: a Hysteroscopy and a Hysterosalpingogram, which have been scheduled for the 12 of September. Would these procedures render her Niddah? I believe they involve the insertion of dye into the Uterus which is then x-rayed. Professor Kruger said that if there would be bleeding it would be from the Cervix.

3)The doctor said that a semen specimen would be required from me several weeks or months before the procedure(ICSY),which would be analyzed and then frozen to be used if necessary in the day.I would also be required to produce semen on the actual day that the procedure is carried out. Up till now we have obtained semen using the method mentioned by Rav Moshe Feinstein zt'l, that is to have Biah Kedarkah and then to ejaculate into a container. This method has caused many difficulties and therefore I need to ask you if there is not some other way that the semen could be collected K'phi Halachah?

4)If the frozen semen is not needed would it be permissible to destroy it or must it be kept?

5)Is there any requirement that the ICSY procedure be carried out when my wife is not Niddah or does this not matter?

6)The Professor assured us that his team is very careful not to use any other semen other than the husband's and that only the wife's eggs are used as a specific doctor is assigned to each couple individually. Do we need to be concerned about this? Do we need any form of Hashgachah?

I hope that you will be able to assist us during your heavy schedule and that if there are any other issues that we need to be aware of that you will let us know.