—are, after being fertilised in a laboratory dish, implanted into the uterus of another wife of the same husband, who of her own free will volunteers to carry the pregnancy on behalf of her co-wife whose uterus has been removed. In the view of the Academy Council, this procedure is permissible when needed, provided that all the general conditions cited earlier are fulfilled.
- In the three cases judged permissible, the Academy affirms that the lineage of the child is attributed to the two spouses from whom the gametes were taken, and that inheritance and all other rights flow from that lineage. Thus, once the child’s descent from the man or the woman is established, the rulings of inheritance and the like apply between the child and the person to whom he is related.
As for the wife who volunteers to carry the pregnancy for her co-wife—in the seventh method mentioned above—she is treated as a foster-mother (wet nurse) to the child, for the infant has derived from her body and its faculties more than an ordinary nursling receives from his wet nurse in the number of sucklings that render the prohibitions of lineage operative through nursing.
- The other four methods of artificial fertilisation, whether internal or external, that were described earlier are all forbidden under Islamic law; none of them may be permitted. This is either because the male and female gametes do not belong to a married couple, or because the woman who volunteers to carry the pregnancy is a stranger to the couple who provided the gametes.
In view of the numerous complications surrounding artificial fertilisation in general—even in its legally permissible forms—and the possibility of sperm or embryos becoming mixed in laboratory vessels, especially if the practice becomes widespread, the Academy Council advises those who care about their religion not to resort to it except in cases of extreme necessity, exercising the utmost caution to prevent any mixing of sperm or embryos.
This represents what has become clear to the Academy Council regarding this highly sensitive contemporary issue, and it prays to Allah that it be correct.
Allah, exalted is He, knows best; He is the One who guides to the straight path and grants success.