What Is In Vitro Fertilization?

IVF is defined as a method of assisted reproduction in which a mans sperm and a womans eggs are combined outside of the body in a laboratory dish. If fertilization occurs, the resulting embryos are transferred to the womans uterus, where one or more ma y implant in the uterine lining and develop. While IVF may sound pretty straight forward, it involves a complex set of medical procedures, which are conducted over the course of several weeks Ethical Questions Understanding the process of IVF is important because the procedure raises a number of troubling ethical questions including: its potential as a form of eugenics (the study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding); its use to help unmarried individuals have babies; and the number of excess embryos produced through IVF, and their fate. Genetic Selection One of the longstanding criticisms of IVF involves its eugenics potential. In 1987, the Catholic Church issued an official statement against IVF and related procedures. In it, the Vatican warned: the abortion mentality which has made this procedure possible thus leads, whether one wants it or not, to mans dominion over the life and death of his fellow human beings and can lead to a system of radical eugenics. As discussed earlier, a relatively new IVF procedure known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) allows fertility doctors to screen embryos prior to transfer for certain genetic or chromosomal traits. PGD is currently used in an estimated 50 clinics worldwide, mainly in the United States. Among its uses so far: screening for chromosomal disorders and disease; selecting embryos that would make compatible tissue donors for siblings; and elective sex selection. Because of its potential to determine the sex of embryos, PGD is popular among both fertile and infertile couples. According to a 2004 report by the Presidents Council on Bioethics, at least one-third of patients using PGD are fertile.17 A 2004 Newsweek article detailed the story of a mother of three boys who wanted a girl and was willing to pay over $18,000 for PGD in order to have one. The woman, who had her tubes tied after her third son was born, and her husband underwent a typical IVF procedure overseen by IVF pioneer Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg at his clinic in California. It resulted in 14 healthy embryos. Christians on IVF:

Since in vitro fertilization (IVF) began, the most consistent opposition to it and related ART procedures has come from the Catholic Church, which to this day opposes IVF on the grounds that it is morally wrong to create human life outside of the marital sex act. In 1987, the Vatican issued an official statement opposing all forms of IVF and artificial insemination, even for married couples.1 Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. of the National Catholic Center for Bioethics, wrote in 2005 that IVF strikes at the very core and meaning of marital sexuality. It substitutes an act of laboratory manipulation for an act of bodily union between spouses. It turns procreation into production. IVF is really the flip-side to contraception; rather than trying to have sex without babies, we try to have babies without sex. Protestants vary in their beliefs on IVF, and unlike the Catholic Church, there is not one set of ethical guidelines for Protestant couples to follow regarding its use. Those who support IVF limit its use to married couples. For example, the ChristianMedical and Dental Associations (CMDA), an organization that consists of over 17,000 Christian medical professionals from a variety of denominational backgrounds, asserts that IVF is morally justified when such a pregnancy takes place in the context of the marital bond. Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family also supports IVF for married couples, and states in the question and answer section of his web site: in vitro fertilization is less problematic when the donors are husband and wifeif all the embryos are inserted into the uterus (i.e., no embryos are wasted or disposed of after fertilization and no selection process by doctors or parents occurs). As the womans body then accepts one or more embryos and rejects the others, the process is left in Gods hands. This seems to violate no moral principles. Albert Mohler, Ph.D., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote in a 2006 column: Christian couples must not embrace the new reproductive technologies without clear biblical and theological reflection. At a bare minimum, Christian couples must commit to the implantation of all embryos, and the selective reduction of none. But this does not alter the fundamentally artificial character of the technology or the moral status of the embryos, and thus IVF presents grave moral issues to the Christian conscience.

Islamic point of viwe

Question Summary: Are we allowed to create test-tube babies (i.e undergo IVF treatment) according to Islamic law Question Detail: Are we allowed to create test-tube babies (i.e undergo IVF treatment) according to Islamic law. My friend and her husband have been told that they could not have children because they are infertile as a couple. The only way that they could have children is by having a test-tube baby. This treatment involves fertilising the wife's egg with the husband's sperm outside the body, in a medical lab. Once the baby has started to concieve, the baby will be put back into the wife's womb. In this process no sperm or egg is used from strange (non-mehram) men or women, only wife and husband sex cells are joined together. Please tell me whether this fertility treatment can take place for wife and husband in islam. If it cannot take place can you please explain why this treatment is sinn and haraam in islam - can you please give me reference to the quran and hadith. Thank you.

Answer :
Allah is the Creator of the universe. He created the heavens and the earth. Everything is subject to His will. As believers, we should appreciate and accept that granting of children is the sole prerogative of Allah. Allah in His infinite knowledge and wisdom will bless a person with children at a time that is appropriate to that persons specific situation. At times, Allah may not grant a couple children, whilst this is also a blessing unto them. Sometimes, Allah tests man through this. Nabi Zakariyyah (alayhimus salaam)received the bounty of a child in his old age. Amongst the negative characteristics of artificial insemination are: 1. Unnatural conception; 2. A woman is required to expose her private parts; However, inability to conceive is also essentially a medical problem. Islam has encouraged us to adopt medical treatment as a means. Therefore, if a genuine medical condition exists, e.g. infertility, etc. then under the guidance of an upright competent medical doctor, artificial insemination may be adopted as a medical treatment with the following provision: 1. A surrogate mother is not used (that any other women besides the wife) cells are used;

2. Only the sperm of the husband is used. and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best Mufti Ebrahim Desai