Who should have a Pidyon Haben?
The mitzvah of pidyon haben - redeeming of the firstborn- applies only to the firstborn male Israelite child who is peter rechem – opens his mother’s womb. Not every firstborn child should have a pidyon haben. The child must be:
1. Male
2. Born to a Jewish mother
3. The firstborn to his mother. The mother must never have given birth, to either a son or a daughter, before this child’s birth.
A child who is not his mother’s first child, or whose mother had a prior abortion or stillbirth, should not have a pidyon haben. If a woman had a prior miscarriage, in many cases, the child should not have a pidyon haben. A competent rabbi should be consulted.
The child does not have to be the firstborn of his father.
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