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because [even] if he only had the first stage of intercourse with her
without emitting semen, he is liable [for the death penalty]. This is
why it says about a sotah, ‘And a man lies with her and emits semen’
(Bamidbar 5:13), for it is on account of the semen that his zeal [i.e. the
husband’s] is aroused against her.”

It is clear from his comments that the foundation of the prohibi-
tion is the introduction of foreign semen into the woman’s uterus.
Despite the fact that intercourse alone even without ejaculation also
incurs punishment, this is because in most cases intercourse results
in the emission of semen. The Torah therefore does not differentiate
and prohibits all stages of intercourse that can result in ejaculation.
[This explanation is advanced by several Acharonim.] According to
this, a woman who is artificially inseminated with donor sperm will
become forbidden to her husband because of the foreign sperm that
has entered her uterus and her child will be a mamzer. This is the
opinion of the Gaon of Satmar zy”a [may his merit protect us].

By contrast, the Seridei Aish (Vol. III, 6) proves [otherwise] from
the words of the Rambam in his Commentary to the Mishnah (Sanhe-
drin 7:4):“…for [emission of ] semen neither adds to nor detracts from
the prohibition, it being principally dependent on the introduction of
the glans (corona) of the male organ.” This implies that it is solely
an act of intercourse that forbids the woman, not the introduction
of sperm. He adds proof for his view that intercourse alone renders
the woman forbidden from the gemara’s discussion in Yevamos (41a)
where Rabbi Yehudah disagrees with the halachah requiring “distinc-
tion” and allows a widow or divorcee to remarry immediately [not as
we rule in practice, that this is forbidden (Rambam Hilchos Gerushin
11:25)]. According to this a strange law will emerge – that the child
that is born from a lawful act of intercourse between a woman and
her husband could be a mamzer. This could happen if a woman had
relations with her husband and he immediately divorced her and she
married another man, and the sperm of her first husband fertilized
her after she married the second husband, within three days of inter-
course with her first husband. We have never any concern expressed
over this possibility. A child born from a lawful act of intercourse is

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