Islamic Ethical Perspectives on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs): Cryopreservation, Surrogacy and Sex Selection in Focus

The birth of first child in 1978 through IVF technology was a breakthrough in the history of infertility treatment. Since then there has been a growing list of new technologies for assisted conception. With the help of these Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) the dream of many infertile couple to get children has become a reality. Unlike traditional treatments for infertility, the advent of the ARTs created big ethical challenges which affect secular and religious communities alike. Due to the involvement of physician and the third party, the process of procreation has become no longer a private matter husband and wife. In addition, specific techniques opened many doors challenging many ethical concepts related to parenthood, family, children etc. Thus, apart from legal codification and regulations, bioethical discussions are also a part of these technologies. With the advent of ARTs ethicists engaged debating about the ethical appropriateness of these technologies. Since these technologies challenge basic concepts related to marriage and lineage, Muslim scholars also started deliberating on these issues. This paper is aimed to explore the ethical issues associated with modern infertility treatments with focusing on three key areas of cryopreservation, surrogacy and sex selection from the secular and Islamic point of view.