Is there a Talmudic reference to the topic of Artificial Insemination?
Thank you very much for your question. Although I am not familiar with any explicit Talmudic reference to artificial insemination, there are a number of early Talmudic commentaries (11th and 12th century) that discuss this. As a matter of fact, Ben Sira, whose philosophical work Sefer Ben Sira is quoted extensively in the Talmud and the Midrash, is said to have been conceived in this manner. This is stated in the Shiltei HaGiborim, an early Talmudic commentary, and the Bach and Taz, commentaries on the Shulchan Oruch, in Yoreh De’ah 195.
This issue is more extensively dealt with in recent Responsa, most notably the Igros Moshe by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein OBM, and the Chelkas Yaakov by Rabbi Yaakov Briesh OBM.
Take care,
Rabbi Aaron Tendler