QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Din and muftis of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: is IVF permissible? If a woman is not able to conceive children, this is the only way using which her treatment can be done. This is also known as test tube baby. In such a case, can a male doctor treat her?
Questioner: A brother from UK
ANSWER:
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب
As per my knowledge, this treatment involves mixing of the male sperm and the female egg and fertilising in a laboratory. The fertilised egg is then transferred to the woman’s uterus using an apparatus similar to a syringe. This method of treatment is permissible if two conditions are fulfilled.
1. The sperm that is transferred into the uterus of the woman should be her husband’s.
2. The fertilised egg must be transferred into the uterus either by herself or her husband.
This can be done by educating the husband on how to transfer the fertilised egg into the uterus, thus avoiding the woman to unnecessarily uncover her private parts even in front of a lady doctor. Conceiving children is not fard (obligatory) or wajib (compulsory) but unnecessarily uncovering one’s private parts in front of a male or female is impermissible.
It is mentioned in al-Hidayah,
وَتَنْظُرُ الْمَرْأَةُ مِنْ الْمَرْأَةِ إلَى مَا يَجُوزُ لِلرَّجُلِ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إلَيْهِ مِنْ الرَّجُلِ
“The ruling on a woman looking at another woman is same as that of a man looking at another man. Thus, she cannot look at the area from the navel to the knees. She can look at the remaining parts.”
[al-Hidayah, vol. 2, pg. 370]
واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri
Translated by the SeekersPath team
Read the original answer in Urdu here – [Q-ID0385] What is the ruling on women having IVF treatment?
Also see:
[Q-ID0107] Having baby scans and general advice on pregnancy
[Q-ID0411] Can women reveal their private parts to a female doctor?
[Q-ID0508] What is the Islamic ruling on performing CPR to save a non-Mahram’s life?
[Q-ID0667] Can a Pharmacist administer injections to females that are non-Mahram?
