Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Is surrogacy against Islam ? Some people think so. Because they lump all kind of surrogacies.
I think gestational surrogacy will not be against Islam:
In a gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother is not genetically related to the child. Eggs are extracted from the intended mother or egg donor and mixed with sperm from the intended father or sperm donor in vitro. The embryos are then transferred into the surrogate’s uterus. Embryos which are not transferred may be frozen and used for transfer at a later time if the first transfer does not result in pregnancy. There no illegal sexual contact and then both mother and father are legally married.

We find an example of surrogacy in Islam in which a baby is nursed by a woman other than biological mother. That relationship becomes as sacred as with biological mother to the extant that nikah is prohibited between biological and surrogate child of this woman. Our Holy Prophet (SAW) was nursed by surrogate mother Thueiba and then Halima.
I know, I know it is different but how different ? That is what I am trying to understand.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

Surrogate motherhood is often euphemistically referred to as “hiring a womb.” The procedure involves using the service of another woman to serve as a carrier for the fertilized ovum of a couple. The woman makes herself available to inject the fertilized ovum into her own womb and then carries the child to its full term on behalf of the other couple. It is often done in lieu of a specified remuneration or free of charge. People resort to this procedure either because a married woman who desires to have a child has problems in carrying her child to its full term or because of her desire to simply forgo the “trouble” of conception and labor.

According to the rules of Shari`ah, surrogate motherhood as described above is not allowed, since it involves introducing the sperm of a male into the uterus of a woman to whom he is not married and, thus, it clearly falls under the specific category of transgressing the bounds of Allah as stated in the Qur’an: Those who guard their private parts except from their spouses… (Al-Mu’minun: 5). “Whosoever goes beyond that are indeed transgressors” (Al-Mu’minun 23: 7).

By introducing a third party into the family equation, this procedure throws into confusion the issue of the identity of the child. In Islam, every child has a right to a definite parentage, namely, that of a father and mother. In the case of surrogate motherhood, the question arises as to the identity of the real mother of the child thus conceived. Is she the genetic mother who provides the egg from which the child is born, or is she the woman whose womb serves as a carrier for the child? Such confusion is bound to affect the child emotionally as he will be torn between two mothers. Further, it may also lead to legal fights over the parentage of the child, as happened in the United States in the case of a child thus conceived in 1987.

Finally, the entire procedure amounts to dehumanizing the process of human procreation by reducing womb down to the level of a commodity that can be bought or rented for service. Ultimately, such a process, yet again, violates the dignity and honor that Allah Almighty has bestowed on man and woman.Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.islam.ca

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Allah Almighty knows best.

Timepass - (Ramzan Mubarak also)
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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

:salam:

This is quite a confusing topic. My opinion would be based on the consequences of it rather than the act. I think it would be difficult to preserve the emotional fabric of a family or child who is born through gestational surrogacy. In making such decisions we should consider the sensitivities of the child more than the parents. The parents are fulfilling their desire to have a child however the child will be the subject of the surrogacy and who knows how the child will react to it once they old enough to understand. So what seems reasonable from the parents perspective may potentially have disastrous consequences for the child, which definitely would be unknown for a long time to come.

In the case where children used to be passed on to wet nurses, the bond developed is not biological in a full sense though the status awarded in Islam is similar to that awarded to biological relations. There is little comparison in the emotional sensitivity between the two cases.

I do not know if anyone can declare it haram but there definitely are good enough points to stear clear of it. Would the child born of gestational surrogacy have any chromosomes or traits of the surrogate mother?

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Hareem do you think I did not go through those fatwas first ? I did . In fact Sheikh Kutty's fatwa is the one which prompted me to start this thread.
Sheikh Kutty is not even aware of the kind of surrogacy I want you to discuss in this thread.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Yes they are aware of this type of surrogacy,

Based on the principle that the Shariah came to protect and preserve the lineage or *nasab* of the people and thus it is *haram* to marry a woman during her *iddah* or to have an intercourse with a woman who is carrying another person’s pregnancy, the Muslim jurists have allowed the use of in vitro fertilization only between legally married couples during their marriage.

Thus in vitro fertilization is permissible as long as the semen and ovum are from the couple who are legally married and the fertilization takes place during their marriage, not after divorce or the death of the husband.

A divorced woman is not allowed to receive the fertilized ovum (embryo) from her ex-husband. Similarly, a widow is not allowed to take it after the death of her husband. Surrogacy, i.e., giving the embryo to another woman to carry on the pregnancy in her womb is also not permissible in Islam. It also not permissible for a Muslim woman to act as a surrogate mother."
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503547052

Involvement of third party into the marital functions of sex and procreation in any way( This means that a third party donor is not allowed, whether he or she is providing sperm, eggs, embryos, or a uterusis) not allowed as the marriage contract is between husband and wife only, the use of a third party is tantamount to zina, or adultery.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Peace All

Provided this is true:
Ibn Umar said: “No. You have not even paid back one twinge of her labour pain when she gave birth to you.”

Then how does this fall into the grand scheme of things with regards to surrogacy?

Will there always be an aspect of motherhood for the 'gestating one'?

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

:salam:

Br. Psyah that would be true when there was no other way known except vaginal delivery. Today, c-sections take away all the labor pain except the surgical pain, which cannot be compared to labor pangs. Even today epidurals have eased vaginal delivery. The surrogate mother would not have any genetic link with the embryo, which is the point of gestational surrogacy, though I do not know how true that is because I believe they still need to stop the surrogate mothers ovulation through medicines. I am still against it based on other sensitivities involved but scientifically it is difficult to draw a conclusive line here because of the differences which existed in medicinal procedures 14 centuries ago and today and also a differences in understanding genetics and anatomy of ourselves.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

WaSalaam

Yeah right:halo:

Epidurals only make you feel sleepy and thus prolong the birth procedure, they don’t ease or lessen the pain.
And if you ask a woman who’s been through C-Section she’ll tell you how “easy and painless” it was.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Aray behna, relative to the birth procedures centuries ago, we’re much better off today. Don’t you agree with that. Bhai mein bhi teen bachchon ka baap hoon, ub itna bhi gadha nahin.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

I don't know what the maternal death rate was in the time of Muhammad, but today maternal death rate in poor countries is 1,000-2,000 per 100,000 vs. 10-20 per 100,000 in developed countries. Obviously giving birth was a much more risky proposition 1400 years ago than it is today in a developed country with proper medical care.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Bhai, aap teen bachon kay baap hain, maan nahin. Just ask this question to your wife, honestly, and let us know what she says about the ease and pain in comparison to today and centuries ago.
I've also been through three births and believe me it was ..........i don't know how to explain it.....i can't find the words to explain the pain and unease even after i took pathidine and entonox.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

We're not talking about maternal death rate here. Maternal death rate has nothing to do with less pain but hygenes.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Maternal death rates I would think would be taken into account as to when/how a woman would/should be impregnated.

The death of a woman giving birth is far more serious than any pain she experiences. Regardless, With the advent of modern medicine and proceudres as well as pain relief options, it goes without saying the pain experienced today has been reduced.

I have known women who have planned caesareans and awoke with no or very little pain.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Seminole, USR....with all due respect, men have no right to talk about the pain a woman experiences when she gives birth. :)

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Hurts just thinking about it. :o

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?


So maybe men should stop trying ways to minimize the pain? Or are they only allowed to develop new medicines and procedures and not talk about it?

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Are you a doctor or in the health profession?

Im sorry but it just seem funny that its men here who are saying that. I know ur trying to help and all, but I stand by my point that men will NEVER know how much it hurts, so its no use saying that its easier now than before or that even c-section takes away the pain of it.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Yaar all I said was relative pain compared to centuries ago. I didn't say its not painful but still much less compared to what it was like centuries ago. I am not saying women just poop them out with no feeling more than that. All I'm saying is that birth procedures are much more comfortable compared to what they were centuries ago. I didn't say it is totally painless or not painful.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

I have no doubt of the pain women put up with to give birth to a child. There is no "pain-free" procedure per se. The procedures have evolved though. Before it used to be purely manual labor, now there are techniques and other 'methods' in place that ensure an almost pain-free delivery, Although it's not totally pain-free.

So yes there is pain, anyway you look at it. And for that i respect you ladies so much.

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Re: Outsourcing Motherhood - Is it allowed in Islam ?

Imagine how it would have been without pathidine and entonox? All I am saying is there are better ways available to reduce the pain today which did not exist before. I did not say its painless.