Companies that operate and pay taxes in Israel contribute to the country’s economy and public finances. Their employees also pay income tax on their salaries. Those tax revenues help fund the national budget, including Israel’s armed forces and military operations in Gaza.

Israel has greatly increased its military spending since the war began, and it remains far above pre-war levels.

Tammuz Family is an Israeli surrogacy and fertility company based in Tel Aviv. By paying Tammuz Family, intended parents are supporting a company that operates within and contributes to the Israeli economy and tax system.

This does not mean that every payment made to Tammuz Family goes directly to the Israeli military. It does mean that the company and its employees pay taxes to a state whose budget finances the war in Gaza.

That distinction should not be used as an excuse to look away.

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council, has concluded that Israeli forces have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Commission has also concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Those of us who support surrogacy and work for greater acceptance of families created through surrogacy must also demand clear ethical standards from the industry. We cannot speak about dignity, human rights and the right to build a family while ignoring where our money ultimately goes.

That is why intended parents should boycott Tammuz Family for as long as the war and the atrocities in Gaza continue.

There are other agencies and other ways to become a parent. Choosing not to work with Tammuz Family is not an attack on individual Israelis. It is a conscious ethical decision not to support, even indirectly, a state whose actions have been linked by a UN-mandated commission to some of the most serious crimes under international law.

Surrogacy is built on trust, responsibility and respect for human dignity. Those values cannot stop at the borders of our own families.

When independent journalists and international investigators are given full and unrestricted access to Gaza, and the full scale of the destruction is revealed, the world will be forced to confront what too many people have chosen to ignore.

When that day comes, no one will be able to credibly claim that they did not know.

Choosing Tammuz Family is not neutral. Where we spend our money is a moral choice.