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The surrogacy law in Israel, dubbed "The law of accords for the carriage of fetuses", states that in order to be eligible for a surrogate agreement, the intended parents must be "a man and woman living as a couple" which, of course, does not include gay couples. Until recently, the option of contacting a surrogate abroad was much less known... But in recent months it appears that parenting options for gays – couples or individuals – are expanding, thanks to additional surrogacy options that significantly reduce the costs...  All this of course before taking into account the current preferential dollar-shekel exchange rate, which has reduced costs in shekel terms by about 30%.

Four years ago, after they had been together for six happy years, Dror and Gil Zitat-Mandelbaum decided it was time to expand their family. As a homosexual couple they knew their options in Israel were limited. "We tried to adopt for several years through many agencies," Dror recounted. "We paid a lot of money but it didn't work out. At the time, we didn't know of the surrogacy option." Today Dror and Gil are fathers of 10-month old twins, given birth to by a surrogate mother.  

After their failed adoption attempts, the Zitat-Mandelbaums met Ron Poole-Dayan, an Israeli living in the USA with his partner Greg. About seven and a half years ago, using the services of a surrogate mother, the Poole-Dayans gave birth to their twins Tomer and Elinor. They told the Zitat-Mandelbaums about their experience: "Ron told us about the process, and we decided to dive in. It has been done for many years already in the USA, which made us feel it was very dependable. Surrogacy there is well-known and established, completely legal, with several court rulings to back it up".

"They were the first Israeli couple who came to me about this, and I referred them to Circle Surrogacy, an American agency that provides surrogacy for gay couples and single people," explains Poole-Dayan, who is currently the agency's Israeli contact and advisor. "While until about a year ago year ago 85% of the couples seeking Circle Surrogacy's help were local, today over 40% are from all over the world, many of them Israelis. A year ago only four Israeli clients were in the process. Now, three couples already have children, five couples are currently "pregnant", and four more are very close to becoming so as well." According to Poole-Dayan, several others have recently signed on, and about 20 more are being processed."

The process that a couple who is interested in surrogacy experiences is very complex," Zitat-Mandelbaum explained. "There are many of legal documents, hundreds of tests, a lot of medical issues and a ton of logistics. The process also includes two women – the egg donor and the surrogate. We contacted the agency and they took care of everything."

"The agency matched the surrogate to us. They screen them and then decide – only one in thirty applicants is accepted. Once they chose, they linked us up, and we then had the option of saying yes or no. That is very important: it is a relationship, not just a womb for rent. Because we are in Israel and she there, the relationship is even more complex. We spoke with our surrogate mother quite a few times by telephone, and exchanged many emails with her. We also exchanged pictures, and we felt that we clicked."

After being together as a couple for years, Ben and Yossi also decided to extend their family. With the Zitat-Mandelbaum's story as their guide, the couple decided without hesitation to also look for a surrogate mother. The woman whose services they eventually used is presently seven months pregnant, and the couple is awaiting the birth of twin sons. "We decided right away that we wanted to be full time parents, without a "third wheel" involved in our family unit," says Ben. "We had investigated adoption, but heard unpleasant stories. We also wanted our children to have our genes, so one of the twins is from my sperm, while the other is from my partner's. Initially, the surrogate option abroad sounded like science fiction, but once we connected with the agency, things went ahead smoothly."

"We traveled to the US several times," says Ben also. "Once for the tests before, once for the first fertility process that failed, and a few months ago for the ultrasounds [after the subsequent transfer resulted in a pregnancy]. We have an extraordinary relationship with the surrogate mother, and I have absolutely no doubt that the warm relationship will continue after the birth. We talk on the phone every now and again, but are also in daily email contact"..

For those willing to consider it, there is now an option of surrogacy in India, at about one fifth of the US prices; or they can apply for donor eggs from an "egg bank" that already operates in the USA, thus reducing the costs by tens of thousands of dollars... Thanks to innovative technology, the eggs can be thawed without damaging them – something that was not previously possible.

"CFA, The clinic working with the egg donors discovered that certain women are "super donors.” [With appropriate stimulation,] they can produce more than 30 eggs in each period," says Poole-Dayan. "Because we don't need more than 15-25 eggs for each treatment, the left over eggs are frozen. Couples that want to have children through a surrogate mother can purchase the eggs at a much lower price, because there are no additional medical treatments involved".

"There are still other options to reduce the costs," says Poole-Dayan. "Even the surrogate mother's place of residence can affect the costs. It is not yet an option that is affordable for everyone, but it is certainly much more so than the past".