Orthodox Infertility
Hirhurim has had some interesting posts recently on what is often called "halachic" or "Orthodox" inferility -- the infertility that results when an observant woman ovulates before the end of her seven "clean" days.
The posts (here and here) are based on a media controversy that began in the Israeli religious Zionist publication HaTzofeh. In a March article, Rivka Shimon, a kallah teacher who advocated the abolition of the seven "clean days" in a Maariv article two years ago, interviews Dr. Daniel Roznik, a religious gynocologist whom she evidently persuaded. Subsequent articles by Rabbi Benjamin and Noa Lau and Rabbi Yoel Katan argued that abolishing the "clean days" is not halachically feasible, and that halachic infertility should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. (The controversy is summarized in this Haaretz article, though with a somewhat anti-Orthodox bent, IMHO.) Rabbi Chaim Jachter subsequently took up this position in the Jewish Press.
Orthodox rabbis currently have certain limited means of addressing the problem at their disposal. First, there are the halachic options. Women who ovulate early may be given a heter to shorten the mandatory five-day period before hefsek taharah -- but of course, this is only effective for women with short periods who can produce a clean hefsek. Additionally, rabbis may be lenient regarding bedikot and stains during the "clean days" -- but this only limits the "clean days" to the prescribed seven; it does not help women who ovulate very early. Secondly, there are medical options. Women may use hormonal treatments or (questionable) herbal remedies to delay ovulation, or they may resort to artificial insemination (with their husbands' sperm) prior to tevilah.
Dr. Roznik is clearly a learned Jew, and he advances a number of halachic and hashkafic objections to maintaining a chumrah (stringency) that results in suffering and reduces the Jewish birthrate. He also objects strongly to the use of medical treatments for addressing a halachic problem. When Shimon asks him about hormonal treatments, he responds (my translation):
I'm shocked at this question! Where do we find that one must take medication in order to fulfil a commandment? One must realize: we are talking about hormonal treatments that definitely have no benefit for the body, and may even cause severe medical damage in time.
There may be a philosophical impasse here. For those who view rabbinic law as the human manifestation of God's will and who maintain that established Jewish custom has the status of halachah (if not a higher status), the issue is moot. The rule may be inconvenient, or even cause suffering, but if so, that is God's will. Halachah is halachah is halachah. For those of us, on the other hand, who view the sages as merely human beings (albeit holy and learned human beings with the weight of tradition on their side), the idea of halachic infertility is deeply troubling, and the idea of using medical treatments to circumvent it is, in fact, nothing short of shocking.
What can I say? We have different worldviews. Let's just hope that this remains a machloket l'shem shamayim, an argument for the sake of Heaven.