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Q:) Can
you give me a fatwa on Test-Tube babies. My brother
who is childless wants to go for this medical
treatement in order to have children. But a friend
of mine has told me that this is Haraam. Can you
tell me if it is Hataam and why and what is the
procedure involved. Awaiting your answer eagerly.
A:)
SURROGACY:
Surrogacy involves a woman (the
surrogate) agreeing to bear a child, and
subsequently to surrender that child to be brought
up by a person or persons other than herself.
Surrogacy may be useful where a
woman is unable to bear a child, due to severe
pelvic disease or she has had a hysterectomy or
because she has medical problems (e.g. heart or
kidney disease) and pregnancy may seriously threaten
her life or health.
The under-mentioned definitions
regarding surrogacy have been summarized from 'The
Reproductive Revolution' (Singer, P., and Wells, D.
Oxford: Oxford University Press 1984)
The most common form of surrogacy
is where a couple arrange for a surrogate to
undertake artificial insemination using the semen of
the male partner. This is called "partial
surrogacy".
Alternatively, a surrogate may
have a biological link with the child she bears by
virtue of the fact that fertilization was achieved
by means of IVF followed by embryo replacement. This
is called "IVF and ER surrogacy". (For instance
where a surrogate has blocked fallopian tubes but
has no ovulation problems.)
A surrogate born-child may have
no genetic link with the surrogate at all. In other
words, the surrogate is merely offering her
gestation function to an embryo. This is referred to
as 'fall surrogacy".
A more unlikely possibility,
where the surrogate has no genetic link with the
child, is where the commissioning parties also have
no genetic link with the child - for instance, where
an embryo is donated by anonymous gamete donors.
This is referred to as "donate embryo surrogacy".
Surrogacy can also be classified
according to whether or not money is a concern.
Where payment is involved, depending on the sort of
payment, and to whom it is made, one can envisage at
least three different possibilities. The first
possible situation arises where a woman agrees to be
a surrogate, providing that the commissioning
parties will compensate her for all expenses for the
conception and birth of the child and any loss of
earnings by the surrogate during the period of
confinement. This is "surrogacy with reasonable
compensation". The second possibility is where a
surrogate may receive payment besides that which
represents a reasonable compensation. This is called
"surrogacy for a fee". The third possibility is
where payment may be made to a party other than the
surrogate. An agency may operate on a commercial
basis, arranging surrogacy and charging both
surrogates and commissioning parties to bring them
together and for provision of counselling services.
This is called "commercial surrogacies". (This is
one of the reasons why the media often calls
surrogacy "baby selling'). However, money is not
necessarily an important part of surrogacy. For
instance, a sister may bear a child for her
infertile sister, and the whole transaction may
involve no payment of money or other rewards. This
is called "surrogacy in principle". The
above-mentioned techniques no doubt allows an
infertile couple to have a child who would have the
genetic compliment of the husband, if the husband's
sperm is used to fertilize the ovum of the surrogate
woman. But, this is where the problem arises -
fertilizing the ovum of a woman by the sperm of a
man other than her husband can be regarded as an
adulterous union. Thus it would be illegal under
IslAmic Law. Now it may also happen that the sperm
and the ovum of the married couple is fertilized in
vitro and placed in the womb of the surrogate mother
who would be paid for giving birth to the child who
would, in that respect, bear the genetic compliment
of the contracting couple. Here, it may be pointed
out that Islam does permit Muslims to have their
children breast- fed by other women. If that is
done, then the child would be like the child of the
wet-nurse. This means that if the wet-nurse has her
own biological children then the child she
breast-fed would not legally be permitted to marry
any of her own biological children. But, it must be
emphasised that this privilege can in no way serve
as justification for the surrogate mother. No
parallel can be drawn between the wet-nurse and the
surrogate mother. The wet-nurse provides the basic
nourishment to the already bom child, while the
surrogate mother carries the "unformed" child to
term and literally gives birth to it.
ISLAMIC
VERDICT:
Scholars of Islam have pronounced
the following fatwa (Islamic verdict) regarding
surrogacy:
It is illegal and immoral to
introduce into a woman the sperm of any man other
than her husband. The formation of the embryo
outside the human body will only be permissible
subject to certain strict conditions. It will be
Haram (forbidden) to form the embryo by the fusion
of a woman's ovum with the sperm of a man other than
her husband. It is also not lawful to implant into a
woman an embryo developed in a haram way.
Consequently, it will be quite
obvious that it is Haram to introduce sperm or
embryo into an unmarried woman.
If, in violation of Allah's Law,
either the sperm of a man other than the husband's
has been introduced into an unmarried woman or a
Haram formed embryo has been introduced into a
woman, the rulings will be as follows:
1. If the woman is married, the
resultant child will legally be that of her husband
even if it is confirmed that the sperm used was not
that of her husband. 2. The same ruling will apply
if the child results from a haram embryo. Even if
the embryo was formed by the fusion of the woman's
ovum with the sperm of another man, the child will
legally be that of her husband. 3. The 'donor' of
the sperm has no right whatsoever over the child
even if prior agreement or contract was entered into
to give him the right over the child. 4. If the
woman is unmarried, the resultant child will be
illegitimate and would be regarded to be that of the
surrogate mother.
Surrogate motherhood is
definitely not allowed in Islam due to the fact that
many evils may arise from this procedure, which can
be listed as follows:
1. Unmarried women could be
tempted into 'leasing' their wombs for monetary
benefits, which would, in turn, undermine the very
institution of marriage and family life. 2. In order
to relieve themselves of the agony of childbirth,
married women could be tempted to resort to this
technique. Islam abhors such action 3. since
pregnancy cannot be regarded as a burden, but in
fact it is a blessing A woman who passes away whilst
in the process of delivering, is given the status of
a martyr. 4. A Transvaal (Tzaneen) surrogate
grandmother gave birth to her daughter's IVF
triplets on October 1987 76 which was a result of
the South African Government not clamping down on
such practices. Can Pat Anthony's (surrogate mother)
action in carrying the children of her biological
daughter, Karen, be morally justified? In doing so,
she has implanted the sperm of her son-in-law into
her womb. Biologically, the surrogate children she
gave birth to, would become her daughter, Karen's,
brothers and sisters, and at the same time, would be
legally regarded as Karen's children. Karen in turn
would thus be sharing two types of relationship with
the same children. 5. Finally, surrogate motherhood
violates the systematic planning of Allah in the
normal process of procreation.
ISLAMIC PRINCIPLES ON FAMILY
PLANNING, Mufti Allie Haroun Sheik, Qasmi
Publication (p. 150 - 153) |
