The Disposition of Surplus Ova

Surplus fertilized ova are routinely frozen for future disposition. At times there is a breakdown of the marriage and a dispute arises regarding whether the divorced wife should recover the fertilized ova for a future attempt at pregnancy, whether the ova should be donated to an infertile couple or destroyed.Some courts - both American and Israeli rabbinical - have treated the matter as a property dispute.Other American courts regard the matter as a conflict between antithetically guaranteed constitutional rights. The proposed paper will analyze the Jewish law view of the status of surplus ova.