Israel’s Baby Factory, They Just Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
Healthbolt reader, Catherine tips us off to this great story about In Vitro Fertilization in Israel. It is turning into a cultural crucible for reproduction at any cost. Take a post-holocaust mentality that is still alive and well, along with a perpetual feeling of being under seige from all sides in that warm and fuzzy region called the middle-east and combine with a supportive gov’t and some strongly-worded scripture about the sanctity of makin’ bacon and you have a perfect storm of the faux-fertile sort. (Not to mention one hell of a run-on sentence.)
On average, about 20,000 IVF procedures are done annually in Israel, compared to about 100,000 per year in the United States, which has a population nearly 50 times the size of Israel’s.
According to some estimates, as many as 5 percent of Israeli kindergarteners today were born through IVF.
“Be fruitful and multiply,” God proclaimed to Adam and Eve in Genesis. Later in the Bible, the issue of infertility was dealt with at length: Three of the four biblical matriarchs were infertile until God decided to “open” their wombs.
Israel has taken the biblical injunction to reproduce seriously. Covering fertility treatments costs the government-subsidized HMOs about $57 million a year, much of which goes toward IVF procedures.
Having IVF treatments paid for by one’s HMO makes it available for all Israelis, regardless of financial status. In the United States , by contrast, the treatment is the prerogative of those with financial means.
“If our society can help these situations by bringing a child into the world, what could be better than that?” Health Minister Yacov Ben Yizri told JTA.
It’s a fascinating look at a culturally and diplomatically fueled practice that is both amazing and creepy at the same time. Kind of like Brautwurst. Get you’re scientifically-aided freak on, after the jump.
Fertile Ground - JTA; Jewish News Wire (Pops. Free Registration required after the first few paragraphs.)
**Do you have a tip for us? Send it here.
Technorati Tags: Makin’ Bacon, Israel, In Vitro Fertilization, IVF, cutting, edge, leader, social, medicine
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Media, Medicine, Science, Technology, Treatment
0 opinions for Israel’s Baby Factory, They Just Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: