Search In Fatwa

Question

Following results have been concluded by our doctor after my wife's leproscopy procedure.
1. She has torturous tubes result delay in egg reaching the uterus, resulting delay in reaching sperms to the egg.
2. There is a possibility for her to conceive but chances are it might be ecopotic pregnancy resulting an operation for tubes removal.
3. Nothing is certain she may or may not conceive right.
So the clinic wanted to avoid tubes function by implementing the following procedure. Please remember this procedure is not artificial insemination (AI) as you have answered for AI already.
IVF
This umbrella term includes a number of treatments in which eggs are removed from a woman's ovary, manipulated in some way, and then reintroduced. Women with blocked or damaged fallopian tubes and men with sperm abnormalities often benefit from the most common form of ART, in vitro fertilization (IVF).
In IVF, eggs and sperm are collected and combined in a laboratory dish. If fertilization occurs, one or more embryos are transferred to the woman's uterus. (Depending on a woman's age, up to four embryos may be used, in the hope that at least one will successfully implant in the uterine wall. But experts now recommend using as few as possible to reduce the risk of multiple births.) Additional embryos may be frozen, then thawed for use in later impregnation attempts.
Should we go for such process in given condition under Islamic regulations.
Please advise: The process of IVF if selected will start from Feb 15, 2001. Hope we can get some answer by that time.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

The ruling for In-vitro Fertilization depends on the way it is done.

Here is a lawful form of In-vitro fertilization. The doctor takes an egg from a wife and puts it in an external tube and fertilizes it with a spermatozoid from the husband of the wife. When the fertilized egg starts to reproduce and at a given stage the doctor transfers it to the uterus of the wife herself and lets it implant on the uterus wall and develop as an embryo. The Islamic Fiqh Council issued the following Fatwa in its seventh session held in 1404 Hijra. “Taking an ovum from the woman and a semen from a man who are husband and wife and doing an In-vitro fertilization for these cells before planting the resulting embryo in the womb of the wife from whom the egg was taken is in principle acceptable in Islam but it can raise some doubts due to what this process involves. So, it should not be practiced unless there is a dire necessity to do so and with some pre-conditions.” These conditions are as follows:

1. The Muslim woman must not under any circumstances show her private parts to anybody except her husband unless there is a lawful reason for her doing so.

2. No doubt, that the need for the woman to be treated for an illness is a lawful reason that gives her the right to be exposed to a person other than her husband but this should be in conformity with the necessity itself.

3. If there is a legal reason for the woman to be exposed to a person other than her husband for treatment, that person should be a Muslim woman if there is one who can do the job; if not found, then a non-Muslim woman; if not found then a trustworthy male Muslim doctor; if not found then a non-Muslim male doctor. This is the legal sequence. However, it is unlawful for the sick woman to stay alone with an alien male doctor. Her husband or another woman should be with them. The council also states that: "the need of the married woman as well as her husband to have a child is a sound reason and a legal one that makes lawful for this woman to seek treatment in the lawful way of artificial insemination. The same ruling was given by the Fiqh Council of the Islamic Conference in 1407 AH.

As for the scholars who forbid such an operation, their reasons are:

Firstly, they fear that the woman might give birth to handicapped children and the operation itself might have bad consequences on the newborn or the mother.

Secondly, the probability of doubt about the lineage of the newborn is left to the doctor who is the only one who can establish that he has done the insemination between the ovum of the wife and the semen of the husband. This might lead to some doubts because the doctor might have used a wrong mixture by mistake or the doctor might have some pity on a woman who wants desperately to conceive and put an alien embryo in her uterus. For this reason, one should seek to have this operation done by a trustworthy Muslim woman doctor.

Thirdly, if the husband has a limited number of spermatozoids in his sperm and wants to conserve it in a bank specialized in conserving the sperm unchanged, then is it lawful for him to do so? Muslim scholars have different rulings on this issue. Some of them think that this is lawful provided that any insemination should be done during the husband's lifetime. Other scholars believe that this is lawful even after the death of the husband but before the expiration of the wife's Iddah (waiting period). A third group of scholars believes that any remaining sperm after the insemination was performed, should be destroyed and not kept for future use. The same difference of opinion exists also as far as the woman's ovules are concerned before being fertilized and after the fertilization.

The reason for this prohibition is the uncertainty about the concerned sperm or fertilized ovules in the banks of embryos. There is great probability that these embryos can get mixed or that someone misuses them and they might be given to alien persons and this leads the person to commit a sin and can cause mixture in lineage.

The Fiqh Council - a sub-organization of the Islamic Conference issued a Fatwa about this in 1410 (AH) 1990 (AC):

1. Since it has been proved scientifically that unfertilized ovules can be stored and served for future use, only the number that is to be planted each time should be withdrawn to avoid having a surplus of fertilized ovules.

2. If there is a surplus of fertilized ovules, they should be left without assistance till they die naturally.

3. It is forbidden to take a woman's fertilized ovule and plant it in another woman's uterus. All precautions should be taken to avoid using a fertilized egg in a forbidden pregnancy.

Allah knows best.

Related Fatwa