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Does Islam allow Surrogate mothers? |
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MangoSwirl 
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Joined: 13 June 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 8 |
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 Posted: 17 June 2006 at 8:58pm |
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Asalaamu Alaikum, Sisters, I feel there is a very serious assumption being made here. Not every woman/man will be a parent. Having children is a test, and everybody is tested differently; i.e. financial status, health, children, etc. Not everyone will taste every type of trial. Some people will have no troubles having children, yet be faced with serious financial issues throughout their lives While others may struggle to conceive, and be financially free throughout their lives. Having children is not a right, per se, as much as it is a trial, and with it comes the good and the bad. Accordingly, it is not a punishment to be w/o children, as this is a trial as well. It's when people feel they deserve or demand something, that their clarity of mind and thought become disturbed. As a result, their faith could be compromised, and they could accept things which aren't clearly acceptable in Islam. A person is free to want children, as she is free to want financial freedom, and proper health - yet not everyone will get what they want. There comes a point where we need to accept Allah's decree, and realize that there could be much goodness in it. wasalaamu alaikum
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TMMJ
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Joined: 22 June 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: 22 June 2006 at 2:10pm |
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Alsalam Alykum Islam has encouraged Muslim families to have babies, as many as they could. The prophet SAW has encouraged his Ummah to multiply (Breed so that I may be proud of you among all the other nations). The issue of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Islam has been studied by Islamic Figh Councils. Regarding surrogate mothers, this was considered legal in 1984 in Saudia Arabia, only to be banned a year later (1985). Shi'ites who are strict in their interpretation of a third-party donation and surrogacy in IVF believe the couple should get approval from a religious court first, and the husband needs to do a muta'a, or temporary, marriage with any egg donor / surrogate mother so the child is not born out of wedlock. However, since a married Shi'ite Muslim woman cannot marry another man sperm donation from a man other than her husband is akin to adultery. "Qoute from University of Shicago web site". Sunni religious scholars have not condoned any kind of third party egg/gamete donation or surrogacy so far. In the mid-1980s there was an interesting discussion if egg donation between several wifes of the same husband could be admitted, since polygamy is basically allowed by the sharia and is practiced among certain social classes of some Middle Eastern countries. It was argued that in such a case the genetic material as well as the pregnancy would stay in the framework of one marriage-bond. In 1984 the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Muslim Worldleague at Mecca issued a statement to the affirmative, but withdrew it already in 1985 and declared the practice forbidden (haram). The ulama argued that during the period of several days or weeks when the egg cell was transferred from the first to the second wife the husband would be legally allowed to have sexual intercourse with the second wife. Consequently, it might not be clear if the transplanted or the �original� oocyte would be fertilized and therefore there could be some doubts about the child�s real mother.During the discussions leading to the statement of 1985 the ulama explicitly disregarded interventions by medical doctors pointing to the virtual impossibility of such a case due to the pratical implications of the process of egg cell transfer. I would guess that the ulama believed the medical doctors but were just looking for a pretext to withdraw the earlier ruling because it would have resulted in a practice of infertile couples hiring a surrogate mother and marrying her to the husband for the period of pregnancy, only to divorce her after childbirth. This might have led to a lot of other complications and would have collided essentially with certain principles of the sharia, for example the prohibition to rent the reproductive parts of the human body. I work in this field and I know medically there are no issues of lineage in surrogacy since the genetic parents of the child are known. Mixes in the laboratory are exceptionally rare with the kind of strict science that we use nowadays. The legal system in the U.S.A has it that the child resulting form surrogacy belongs to his/ her genetic parents. These civil rules however differ in Europe. I personally believe surrogacy is very similar to foster or adopting parents in that the �surrogate mother will take care of the child for few month, and then the child return to his mother�. The fertilized embryo is a potential human being, no doubt in that. I do not have any Sunni scholars to back me up no, but I sure hope that our Muslim scholars will catch up with the science in order to assist Muslim families make an educated choice. God knows the best.
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TMMJ
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Joined: 22 June 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: 22 June 2006 at 10:31pm |
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{Having children is not a right, per se, as much as it is a trial, and with it comes the good and the bad. Accordingly, it is not a punishment to be w/o children, as this is a trial as well. There comes a point where we need to accept Allah's decree, and realize that there could be much goodness in it.}
Dear Sister Alsalam Alykum I agree with you - we should thank Allah for evey thing ( Fertility or infertility). ZSOme people can consider infertility a blessing. However not having children is a major disadvantage ofor some women in some muslim family, especially if the wife is the culprit. Also we should not forget that it is Allah decree as well to make the best use of science to better our lives and have kids. We talk about accepting fate and remaining infertle. On the same token we should accept fate and vigourously seek fertility treatment. Nothing will ever happen without Allah's will. It bothers me when our scholars,(may Allah lead them to the right path) make every thing Haram without sweating. They also seem to copy from one onther without rethinking issues over. Times and times these special fatwa opinions have changed. This is true especially for issues that the Qauran and the the Prphet SAW did not mention. Simple example include organ donatio which was totally Haram, then only Halal form living donor, and now hala from all sources (Dead as well as living humans and even animals (Heart Valave replacement). How about assuming that surrogote mothers and is Halal untill proven otherwise. At the end every thing is Allah's willing and fate. Edited by TMMJ |
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MayPB
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Joined: 21 July 2005 Status: Offline Points: 75 |
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Posted: 05 July 2006 at 12:14am |
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I think the idea of having another woman carry another couple's child or carrying a child conceived by IVF with the husband's sperm is unethical. Islam's numerous hadiths have already discussed adoption, marriage, and premarital sex. From those laws we can come up with an answer for this modern day dilema. In retrospect this woman carrying another couple's child would be selling her gift from God, the ability to conceive and give birth, in essence her woman hood, and this is just not something to be sold or traded, not even to be considered work, nine months of pregnancy. It's also not right to IVF another man's sperm in a woman's body who is not her husband because sex is a sacred act permissable for husbands and wives and for the purpose of mutual satisfaction and procreation. Procreation cannot legally takeplace between two people who are not married, then this child does not truly belong to the husband and wife, but is a child born out of wedlock between two parents who are not married, and then a mother who has "adopted" the child as her own- which is also wrong because Islam's hadiths clearly state laws concerning adoption and how it is done. Bottom line, we just can't have everything we want!!!
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Patty
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Joined: 14 September 2001 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2382 |
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Posted: 05 July 2006 at 4:11am |
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I have been blessed to see the positive side of adoption. My sister and brother-in-law were never able to conceive a child. So after many years, they decided to adopt. They reside in England. One day they received a call from the social services agency in London, and a lady told them they had four little brothers and sisters who desperately needed a home. Two boys and two girls, ages 8, 7, 6, and 5. My sister and brother-in-law told her they couldn't possibly take four children all at once! The "savvy" social worker suggested they just drop by and meet the children........so they did. Needless to say, they couldn't stand the thought of leaving them parentless, so after a short period of time, they brought all four children home with them for good. These little children had been through a horrible time. Their mother was schizophrenic, and the father was alcoholic. The mother had beaten and drowned their infant sister in front of them in the bathtub!! For my sister and her husband, raising them was not always easy or enjoyable. Several years of therapy was necessary for the children, as they suffered from terrible nightmares and fears of being abandonment. They were severely traumatized. Now, they are all grown. Fully normal, happy young adults with college educations. My sister and brother-in-law are the only Mum and Dad they remember to any degree. This has been quite a beautiful experience for our entire family. I believe that God/Allah truly does work in mysterious ways...His wonders to perceive. Sometimes we wonder "why me, God?" But He always has a reason, even though we may not know the answer for a long time.....or sometimes never in this life. My sister and brother-in-law had been terribly saddened by their inability to conceive a child, but they were destined for greater responsibilities--to nurture and love and raise four unfortunate little children they didn't even know existed. I think God always has a plan for our lives, and He always knows best! We must be open to His "calling" and answer that call when the situation arises. Peace be with you..... |
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Patty
I don't know what the future holds....but I know who holds the future. |
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Hayfa
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Female Joined: 07 June 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2368 |
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Posted: 06 July 2006 at 11:21am |
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Wonderful story Patty. I know a woman who adopted to boys alone. They also came from a 'rough' background. It was not always easy. But it is amazing to see selfless love happen. For some poeple they could not do what your family did or this woman I know. But ultimately we are all one family on this earth. If we all don't help each other out who will? |
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When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. Rumi
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numan
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Joined: 08 July 2006 Location: Hong Kong Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: 08 July 2006 at 12:14pm |
i am completely agree with sister hayfa |
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Angela
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Posted: 08 July 2006 at 12:41pm |
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