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The politics of 'The Natural Family' in Israel: State policy and kinship ideologies

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  • Birenbaum-Carmeli, Daphna

Abstract

Israel is the only country in the world that provides nearly unlimited, universal state funding for fertility treatments. This exceptional policy has been widely understood as symbolising the state's pronatalism. In this paper I probe the policy and assess medical experts' practice to show how a specific modality of pronatalism--enhancing 'the natural family' concept--is being construed through legislation and practice. Policy analysis discloses how the relatively efficient and safe technology of donor insemination has been devalued as a last resort solution to male infertility, to be applied only after all 'natural' alternatives have failed. At the same time, in vitro fertilisation (IVF), despite its health risks and lower efficacy, is proactively encouraged through various policy measures including unrestricted public funding. Interviews with practitioners reveal that similar preferences are enhanced through the infusion of secrecy and shame into donor insemination, coupled with active support of IVF. To complete the picture, Israel's adoption law is outlined, showing tight restrictions on domestic adoption and complete lack of state support or subsidy for inter-country adoption. I suggest that both the marginalisation of non-genetic forms of kinning and the emphasis on IVF indicate a state interest in upgrading the 'natural family' so as to nurture a geneticised notion of the local Jewish collectivity.

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  • Birenbaum-Carmeli, Daphna, 2009. "The politics of 'The Natural Family' in Israel: State policy and kinship ideologies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1018-1024, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:7:p:1018-1024
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Birenbaum-Carmeli, Daphna & Carmeli, Yoram S., 2002. "Physiognomy, familism and consumerism: preferences among Jewish-Israeli recipients of donor insemination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 363-376, February.
    2. Karl Skorecki & Sara Selig & Shraga Blazer & Robert Bradman & Neil Bradman & P. J. Waburton & Monica Ismajlowicz & Michael F. Hammer, 1997. "Y chromosomes of Jewish priests," Nature, Nature, vol. 385(6611), pages 32-32, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Maya Tsfati & Dorit Segal-Engelchin, 2022. "The Social Experiences of Single Gay Fathers in Israel: An Intersectional Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Frumkin, Ayala & Raz, Aviad E. & Plesser-Duvdevani, Morasha & Lieberman, Sari, 2011. ""The Most Important Test You’ll Ever Take"?: Attitudes toward confidential carrier matching and open individual testing among modern-religious Jews in Israel," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(12), pages 1741-1747.
    3. Thorsten Janus, 2013. "The political economy of fertility," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 493-505, June.
    4. Inhorn, Marcia C. & Birenbaum-Carmeli, Daphna & Vale, Mira D. & Patrizio, Pasquale, 2020. "Abrahamic traditions and egg freezing: Religious Women's experiences in local moral worlds," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).

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