April 23, 2024

Israeli woman wants own baby to be recognised as triplet of twins born to surrogate

Michael Cook

An Israeli woman is appealing to the National Insurance Institute to recognise a baby she gave birth to, along with twins born via surrogate mother, as triplets, in an attempt to gain the sizeable benefits granted to mothers of triplets.

An Israeli woman is appealing to the National Insurance Institute to recognise a baby she gave birth to, along with twins born via surrogate mother, as triplets, in an attempt to gain the sizeable benefits granted to mothers of triplets. The NII has rejected her petition, saying that this only applies to a single gestation. The twins were born 29 hours after the woman gave birth to the first child. The NII classified the woman as having given birth to one baby and two additional twins.

Mothers of triplets are granted around USD$21,000 more than mothers of twins, and 3 more weeks of maternity leave. “This is a very clear case,” said the woman’s lawyer, Zohar Barzilay, two weeks ago. “It’s triplets who will go to the same nursery school, eat the same baby food and are no different than any other triplets.”

After years of trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, the woman decided to hire a surrogate who conceived via IVF. Then, to the surprise of her doctors, she fell pregnant. “I’m disappointed with the NII’s rigid approach,” Barzilay told Haaretz. “They should have displayed greater flexibility. I have no doubt the law was meant to include cases such as this. [The plaintiff] is eligible to be treated as a mother of triplets.” The NII has stood by its decision. “The law does not permit such benefits for [the plaintiff],” the NII stated. “Therefore we will be happy to respect the court’s verdict in the case.” ~ Haaretz.com, Feb 23

Jared Yee
Israel
surrogacy

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