Is it permissible to have a child through IVF?

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a medical procedure where a woman’s egg and a man’s sperm are fertilized outside the body in a laboratory dish, and then the resulting embryo is implanted into the woman’s uterus [1].

There are two main types of artificial fertilization in medicine:

• Internal fertilization: the sperm and egg are fertilized inside the woman’s body [2].

• External fertilization: the sperm and egg are fertilized outside the body in a laboratory dish, and then the embryo is implanted into the uterus [3].

Both internal and external fertilization have several variations. From a Shariah perspective, IVF is only permitted if both the sperm and egg come from a married couple and the embryo is implanted into the wife’s uterus [4]. Any other scenario, where genetic material from outside the marriage is used, or the embryo is implanted into another woman, is prohibited due to concerns of lineage confusion and the concept of "zina" (fornication) [5]. It is also not allowed to fertilize a woman’s egg with the sperm of her divorced or deceased husband and then implant the embryo into her uterus [6].

Department of Sharia and Fatwa, Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan

• [1] Muhammad Shaltut, "al-Fatawa", 326.

• [2] Muhammad Khalid Mansur, "al-Ahkam al-tibbiyya al-muta‘allaqa bi-l-nisa’ fi al-fiqh al-islami", 77.

• [3] Muhammad Ali al-Barr, "Khalq al-insan bayna al-tibb wa al-Qur’an", 531.

• [4] Mustafa Zarqa, "al-Janīn wa al-ahkam al-muta‘allaqa bihi", 137. "Fatawa Shaltut", 327. "Qararat wa tawsiat Majma‘ al-Fiqh al-Islami al-Duwali", 113. 1985-2011.

• [5] Jami‘at al-Azhar, Kulliyat al-Shari‘a wa al-Qanun, "Qadaya Fiqhiyya Mu‘asira", 1/348. Decision No. 16 (3/4) of the third session of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Amman, 1986. Qaradaghi, "Fiqh al-qadaya al-tibbiyya al-mu‘asira", 576. Fatwa Committee of the Arab Republic of Egypt: https://www.dar-alifta.org/ar/fatawa/11682/%D8%

• [6] "al-Mawsu‘a al-muyassara fi fiqh al-qadaya al-mu‘asira (qism fiqh al-usra)", 151-156.