Surrogacy: An Islamic Perspective

Authors

  • Maher Hathout Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University, California, United States of America

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5915/21-3-13364

Keywords:

Surrogacy, alternate reproduction, Islamic viewpoint

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5915/21-3-13364

From the scientific and technological point of view, we are living through a reproductive revolution in which alternative means of reproduction are now available. Surrogacy is one of these alternatives and takes on different forms. In Islam the only legitimate pregnancy is that which results from the union of sperm and ovum of a legally married couple. New 1ech11iques of implanting the fertilized ovut71, grown in vi1ro, in the u1erus of the wife is allowed if the sperm and the ovum are those of the husband and wife during their life span, i.e., within the frame of matrimonial legitimacy. Thus a child delivered of a surrogate mother is the product of an illegitimate relation. Based on Islamic argument, I believe that the surrogate mother who carries the fetus through pregnancy and who passes through the experience of delivery is the child's legitimate mother.

Author Biography

Maher Hathout, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University, California, United States of America

Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University, California, United States of America

M.D.

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Published

1989-07-01

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 3 (1989)

Section

Islamic Perspectives

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