Islamic Bioethics & the Unconventional Gift of Life

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By Yasmin Pascual Khalil

The ability to have children has always been an important aspect of the lives of many. For Muslim Middle Easters and others as well, having children is highly desired, as parenthood is culturally mandatory. In that regards, many unconventional reproductive technologies are being explored to lessen the effects of infertility. Globally, one in six couples encounters an infertility problem at least once throughout their reproductive life span. Infertility in women is approximately nine percent for individuals aged 20 to 44[1].

Compared with the west, Muslim women have limited options as third party reproductive assistance is largely banned with only Iran and Lebanon utilizing such technology in the Muslim Middle East[2]. “It is important to bare in mind that none of these technologies existed at the time and all that can be done to legitimize them is to interpret what the religion would have said,” says Dr. Soraya Tremayne, Founding Director of the Fertility and Reproduction Studies Group (FRSG), Oxford University. “The Shia have made extensive use of ‘ijtihad’ and allowed all sorts of reproductive technologies, including stem cell research, sex selection etc all within the religious boundaries and through ijtihad.” Ijtihad is an Islamic legal term meaning independent reasoning.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy

The main purpose of surrogacy is to achieve genetic motherhood via a surrogate who is willing to carry an embryo belonging to a sterile pair (the biological parents) to full term and deliver the infant to them upon birth[3]. To many Islamic scholars, the practice is also referred to as ‘hiring a womb’. Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, the Associate Director of Mosque Foundation believes surrogacy is forbidden in Islam: “It is not permissible to hire a womb (surrogacy) for it introduces a sperm of a man to a uterus of a woman that he is not married to, and God Says in the Holy Quran – Those who guard their private parts except from their spouses…Whosoever goes beyond that are indeed transgressors, 23:5”.

Sunni Islam is the leading form of Islam consisting of nearly 90 percent of the world’s Muslims. While, all Sunnis believe surrogacy is forbidden, Shia Muslims believe otherwise. In 1999, a fatwa allowing donor technologies to be used was introduced in the Islamic republic of Iran, permitting not only surrogacy to be practiced but also sperm donation, egg donation, and embryo donation. Later, the Shia dominant Lebanon followed suit[4].

Babies with three Genetic Parents

“Babies with three parents or the gene therapy for mitochondria is a fairly new technology,” says Dr. Tremayne. “I am not sure what the approach of the Muslim countries is towards this therapy.” The first baby with three parents could be born as early as next year according the DailyMail. The therapy involves exchanging a defective DNA in the mother’s egg with material from a donor egg, leading the baby to have two mothers and a father. This controversial genetic treatment is not widely accepted as it can lead to ‘designer babies’.

“This matter is also Haram and not allowed for it mixes the line of lineage that is preserved and protected in Islam,” says Sheikh Mustapha. “The Prophet SAAW said: anyone who is lined to someone other than his father (parent) has committed an act of [Kufr] rejection of Islam. – Hadith by Bukhari and Muslim”

Even when the donor egg is belonging to one of the father’s wives it is forbidden: “Having the husband marry more than one woman does not permit the nucleus of one egg to be inserted into the cytoplasm of another egg even being another wife. It will create a mix in motherhood and eventually in lineage,” adds Sheikh Mustapha.

Womb Transplant

Womb Transplants

The world’s first baby born via uterus transplantation recently occurred in Sweden under the direction of Professor Mats Brannstrom. Previously, only two attempts have been made, one in 2000 in Saudi Arabia and another in 2011 in Turkey4. At the moment, the only other way to achieve genetic motherhood is via surrogacy; thus, to Muslim women this breakthrough might just be the answer to their prayers. According to Sheikh Mustapha, uterus transplantation is permitted in Islam as it does not manipulate one’s genes: “To the best of my knowledge the main function of the uterus is holding a developing fetus to maturity; when it is ready to be born. To that, we can say the uterus is not something that relates directly to the carrying of the inherited genes of the infant and for that it should be permitted. Now, any organs that will affect the inherited genes would not be allowed.”

The main concern involving this method is that any recipient of a transplanted uterus will need to consume immunosuppressant drugs to aid the body in accepting the uterus and as of today side effects on the fetus are unknown4.

Current Options

Previous research by several social science scholars working across the Middle Eastern region have indicated that infertile Muslim couples are becoming progressively more open to pursuing assisted reproductive technologies in quest of parenthood2.

“Islam permits reproduction only using the genetic make-up of its parents (mother and father),” says Dr Amel Alghrani, Senior Lecturer in Law from University of Liverpool with extensive research in medical law specializing in assisted reproduction and family formation. “Assisted reproductive technologies, such as vitro fertilization – IVF, which use gametes of its lawfully married parents, are permissible.” Other practices widely accepted by Sunni Muslims include: fertilized embryos via cryopreservation, artificial insemination of the husband’s semen, and Multifetal pregnancy reduction (selective reduction) to name a few2.

Mitochondrial-replacement

Lastly, sponsoring an orphan can be an option too says Sheikh Mustapha: “In many cases accepting fate that a male or a female cannot bare children would be the test from God; for each one of us is tested in certain means and a Muslim accepts God’s Qadar to that which he or she will be rewarded. Sponsoring an orphan is always something honorable in Islam and can provide a sense of relief to a certain extent.”

Yasmin Pascual Khalil is a chemical engineering graduate from Curtin University and freelance journalist. Her interests include social issues, renewable energy, oil & gas, and separation processes to name a few.

References

[1] ART Fact Sheet (June 2014) Retrieved from http://www.eshre.eu/Guidelines-and-Legal/ART-fact-sheet.aspx

[2] Inhorn, M.C. and Gürtin, Z.B (2012) Infertility and Assisted Reproduction in the Muslim Middle East: Social, Religious, and Resource Considerations.

[3] M. Hariri*, M. Bahramian, L. Abbasi, et al. (2014) A study of surrogacy process in Iran law and Imamia Fiqh with a brief look at international law. Scientific Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences

[4] Alghrani A (2013) Womb Transplantation and The Interplay of Islam and The West. Journal of Religion and Science vol 48 issue 3 pp 618 – 634.

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