Kaporos for a Pregnant Woman

 

Q1. Does a pregnant woman need to do Kaparos on behalf of the fetus?

A. A pregnant woman uses two chickens and one rooster. She uses the plural formula to refer to all the fowl at once:

Eilu chalifaseinu, eilu temuraseinu, eilu kaparaseinu,
eilu ha-tarnagolim yeil’chu le-misah, va-anachnu neiliech le-chayim tovim aruchim u’le-shalom.

 

Q2. Must all 3 Kaparos chickens of a pregnant woman be held/swung together? Or can she do one at a time (in order to be less conspicuous early on in pregnancy) and what nusach would she say in such a scenario?

A. I’ve seen it being done all 3 together, although this is not a requirement and one is permitted to do them separately. In such a case, follow this Nusach:

When using male – Zeh chalifosi … ze hatarnegol

When using female – Zos chalifosi .. zos hatarnegoles

 

Q3. What about a woman who is pregnant with twins?

A. Regarding a woman who knows she is pregnant with twins – the custom is to use 5 chickens (3 females and 2 males).

See more here.

 

Q4. At what point in the pregnancy do you have to use extra chickens for Kaporos?

A. After forty days since conception.

Q5. Since we did IVF, we know the gender of the fetus, how many chickens should be used in such a case?

A. She should use a hen for herself and a chicken of the same gender as the baby.

 

Sources:

ב. ראה שו״ת אז״נ יא, מו.

ג. קודם למ’ יום – ה”ז כמיא בעלמא – וראה בארוכה במ״מ שבלינק כאן:

We just found out that we’re pregnant and no one knows yet, and we were offered Kvaterin. Can we accept? 

וכ״כ בנט”ג יוה”כ י, ג ובהערה ו’ שם.

ד. ראה קנה בושם ב, כ. ושם בנוגע לאולטרוסונד שאינו בבירור. משא”כ היכא שיודעת בבירור כמ”ש בתחילת התשובה שם.

 

 

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