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out intercourse] is a mamzer, the halachah is well known that the
child of a gentile who had relations with a Jewess is not a mamzer
(Shulchan Aruch Even Ha’ezer 4,19, Biur Hagra 42). The Igros Moshe
therefore rules (Even Ha’ezer Vol. I, 71), that this can be permitted in
a situation of great need, such as when a couple who yearn for a child
suffer intense pain and anguish from their childless state. In such a
case he permits the woman to be artificially inseminated with a sperm
from a gentile. [He adds however that if there is a possibility of her
husband’s recovery i.e. his becoming fertile, within three months of
the insemination they should separate for three months.]

However, many poskim take issue with allowing insemination
with the sperm of a gentile, arguing that in maseches Yevamos (42a)
the gemara states that a ger and giyores [i.e. a couple who converted]
must wait for three months following their conversion before they
can live together. This is necessary because she might be pregnant at
the time of her conversion and when she gives birth people will think
that the child was conceived in holiness [i.e. by Jewish parents]. She
may go on to have another son who marries dies without children,
and the older brother will have yibum [Levirate marriage] with his
widow, believing that he too was conceived after his parents became
Jewish. In fact though, he was conceived beforehand [and is therefore
not considered his father’s son] and instead of fulfilling a mitzvah
of yibum he will be marrying his maternal brother’s widow [which
is forbidden]. [The same concern is relevant here too, should these
parents go on to have another son.]

Another reason for prohibiting insemination from a gentile donor
is the gemara’s statement in Yevamos (ibid.) that the three month wait
before remarrying [or, in the case of a ger and giyores, the three month
separation] is necessary because the Torah writes, “To be a God to
you and to your descendents after you” (Bereishis 17:7) which the ge-
mara understands as meaning, “to distinguish between the offspring
of the first husband and that of the second.” The Radvaz (Teshuvos
Vol. I, 264) understands that in the Rambam’s opinion, this halachah
of “distinction” is mandated by the Torah [being derived from this
passuk]. See the Rambam (Hilchos Issurei Biah 21:13) who writes,

42 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein