In-Vitro Fertilization and Surrogacy?

SALAM ALAIKOM.

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO KNOW IF IN- VITRO FERTILIZATION AND USING A SORROGATE MOTHER IS ALLOWED IN ISLAM. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO’S UTERUS HAD BEEN REMOVED BUT SHE STILL HAS HER OVARIES THEREBY SHE’S STILL OVULATING. SHE WANTS TO KNOW IF SHE AND HER HUSBAND CAN DO IVF AND USE A SORROGATE MOTHER IN ORDER TO HAVE A CHILD. SINCE SHE NO LONGER HAVE HER UTERUS SHE CANNOT HAVE A BABY IN A NATURAL WAY. JAZAKALLAHUKHEIRAN.

Your question is extremely important. As you know, the Juristic opinion I am about to summarize for you on this issue is not mine.  The authority to use here is The Islamic International Fiqh Council which has issued the verdict on in-vitro firtilization, so did the  leading scholar of the Ummah  Dr. al-Qaradawi, from among the highest ranking scholars.  The only form of in-vitro allowed is between husband and wife to facilitate pregnancy. The other form you are explaining is when both husband and wife agree to place the wife’s egg fertilized by the husband’s sperm in another woman’s uterus.  Al-Qaradawi has explained on several occasions that this form is prohibited in Islam, as did the Fiqh Council. However, he did not prohibit the transplant of a uterus. Meaning that in Shari’ah there are alternatives for pregnancy in this case when a wife is unable to have children because of the uterus’s mal-function. The scenario of using another woman’s uterus will cause confusion in lineage, and this violates one of the main objectives of Shari’ah which is protecting lineage. One question is what if the carrier has a husband and a normal intimate relation with him, whose baby will it be, the man who fertilized his wife’s egg or the husband of the carrying mother? Another consequence is having two mothers, one providing the egg and another carrying for nine months with travail upon travail, and delivering the baby.  To rule out this confusion, Shari’ah acknowledges only the mother carrying and delivering the baby. As you know, surrogacy is widespread in the west and has become a trade. And because Islam respects the human body, Shari’ah has made it clear that any form of trade with body parts is prohibited. With all this evidence at hand, the only way out is to seek a uterus transplant if possible. Islam has allowed organ transplant with certain restrictive norms to insure medical and juristic ethical standards are maintained.

Recently, ‘Alamah Yusuf al-Qaradawi has issued another verdict.  In Fatawa Mu’asirah (Contemporary Juristic Verdicts), he has put restrictive norms for the husband and wife needing to place the fertilized egg in another woman’s womb.  The restrictive norm is that the woman should be a thayyib or one that has been married before and without a husband. A virgin cannot be a surrogate mother. Al-Qaradawi has gone through extensive detail explaining the harms of going through the process legally as we cannot treat surrogacy as a deal with a written contract as in financial transactions. Legal complications with surrogate mothers are well known to the western public. The source of this Fatwa or Juristic Verdict is: (فتاوى معاصرة (بيروت: المكتب الإسلامي، 2000) الجزء الأول، ص 608، 609
If you need to read it in detail.

I would like to provide a final note on the issue of surrogacy.  The overriding, majority opinion of scholars is prohibition of this practice altogether. Al-Qaradawi’s opinion is unique in this respect and if one adopts it, one must be extremely  cautious with all the restrictive norms that he proposed that go along with his opinion. The Grand Mufti of Egypt prohibited the practice and other scholars have explained other consequences that conflict with Shari’ah. If a woman is used to becoming pregnant with others’ fertilized eggs, and it happens that she gives birth to someone who in the future marries another born from the same surrogate mother without knowing, this will be a prohibited marriage between a brother and a sister. Because the International Islamic Council has prohibited the practice of surrogacy, this is the opinion one would feel safer following. It is the majority opinion. I hope this explanation is detailed enough to settle the issue and help the lady asking the question.