Israel to Address Gay Surrogacy

The Israeli Health Ministry is considering to allow gay couples to have a child through surrogate mothers, according to ministry legal adviser Mira Huebner-Harel.

Heubner-Harel announced Monday at an Israel Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology conference that the health ministry is planning to form a committee to update the law.

"The traditional family unit has been changing lately," said Huebner-Harel, reports Haaretz. "A man, woman and child was good, but the trend is changing, and we know of male couples who travel across the sea to have children through surrogates."

Surrogacy has been legal in Israel since 1996, but only for heterosexual couples.

There is no official timetable for when new provisions will be proposed.