In its third conference (held in Amman, Jordan, Safar 8 – 13, 1407 AH/October 11 – 16, 1986 CE) the Islamic Fiqh Council reviewed the researches submitted to it regarding in-vitro fertilization and consulted experts in that respect. Accordingly, it banned five ways of in-vitro fertilization and considered two other ways as lawful.
“The council decided the following:
First, the following five ways of in-vitro fertilization are completely unlawful because they result confusion of parentage:
1. The fertilization is made by adding the sperm of a man to the ovum of a woman other than his wife and then implanting the fertilized ovum in his wife’s uterus.
2. The fertilization is made by fertilizing a woman’s ovum by the sperm of a man other than her husband and then implanting the fertilized ovum in her uterus.
3. The fertilization is made between the sperm of a man and the ovum of his wife and then the fertilized ovum is implanted in the uterus of a surrogate mother.
4. The fertilization is made between the sperm and ovum of people other than the couple who want to conceive a baby and then the fertilized ovum is implanted in the wife’s uterus.
5. The fertilization is made by adding the sperm of a man having two wives and the ovum of one of his wives, and then the fertilized ovum is implanted in the uterus of the other wife.
Second, the council agreed to two other ways of in-vitro fertilization. These are:
1. Fertilizing a woman’s ovum with her husband’s sperm outside the body and then transferring the fertilized ovum into her uterus.
2. Inserting the man’s sperm into his wife’s uterus so that the fertilization be made inside her body.”