Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) in Pakistan: A Need for Shariah Compliant Medico-Legal Framework

Introduction Artificial Reproductive Technology has proved to be a technological solution to infertility. As defined by World Health Organization (WHO) “Infertility is a disease of the male or female reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse”. The global percentage of infertility has risen to 17.5% approximately, that pushed practitioners to introduce a viable solution to surmounting conceptional challenges. However, the application of ART raises complex dilemmas in Pakistan, where people are culturally family oriented, and religiously more sensitive to the susceptibility of new medical intervention that challenges progeny (lineage) and sanctity of marriage. In this editorial, I will reflect on Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) with other associated procedures from Islamic jurisprudential aspect to ensure transparency between the religious misconceptions and established rulings. Artificial Reproductive Technology The American Centre of Disease Control (CDC) confined ART to handling embryo or egg for fertility treatment. Hence, handling only sperm for treatment does not fall under the ART category such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) technique. Nevertheless, ART in normative concepts among patients and in clinical practices, extends to all modalities of treating infertility. The most common type of ART is in vitro fertilization (IVF) where eggs are retrieved from ovaries, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory and the resulting embryos are transferred to the uterus. The Islamic law does not frown on the simple technique used for conceiving, if it is performed between the wed-locked couple under Islamic law. On the other hand, situations where the wife (female) or the husband (male) seeks help from third-party sperm, ovum, or uterus, lead to certain important Islamic questions in context of the permissibility of ART and its associated modalities. The handling of gametes for treatment, with or without wedlock, comes under ART-IVF, whereas the commissioning of third-party uterus known as Surrogacy.........................................................................................................................