Liat Moshe, left, and Dana Glisko await a decision from the court on the right for gay and lesbian couples to have birth through surrogacy in Israel. Image by haaretz

A seven-justice panel of the High Court of Justice heard the case Tuesday of a lesbian couple seeking to have a child by surrogacy in Israel instead of needing to get the procedure done overseas. Members of the panel urged them to accept a Health Ministry offer to have part of the procedure performed in Israel, but the couple rejected the overture and are now awaiting the final court decision, which will be issued at a later date.

Liat Moshe and Dana Glisko have been in a relationship for 10 years. Since Moshe hasn’t succeeded in getting pregnant, she wants to extract an egg from her body and implant it in Glisko’s womb. But current law allows only heterosexual couples to carry out surrogacy procedures in Israel; homosexual couples have to go overseas to do so. Moshe and Glisko petitioned the court, arguing that the law is discriminatory.

Shortly before Tuesday’s hearing, the Health Ministry agreed to let Moshe have the egg extracted in Israel, but said the implantation would still have to be done overseas. Several justices urged the women to accept this compromise.

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“Everyone understands that the Health Ministry has taken a very significant step considering the law’s provisions,” said Supreme Court President Asher Grunis. “Therefore, it’s worth seriously considering the proposal.”

Read more at Haaretz.com.

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