In-Vitro Fertilization and The Islamic Law of Inheritance

Abstract

The advent of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and the great strides made by the medical profession in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) raises serious concerns. These concerns include the legality of the procedure, the lineage of the children produced through IVF, and their inheritance, if at all they have inheritance rights. One uniqueness of the Shariah is that it provides solutions to every problem or situation. The Islamic law of inheritance is so comprehensive to the extent that it does not neglect any possible case that might arise till the last day, including the issue of how IVF children inherit. This article discusses the different scenarios that might arise concerning the inheritance of a fetus from IVF. Several assumptions need to be addressed depending on the circumstances based on whether the child was born dead or alive, the gender of a single child and more than one child with similar or different genders in multiparity cases, whether identical or fraternal from a single pregnancy. The article addresses each one of these and gives examples of how the distribution would be conducted. A brief literature review is also included on how other authors have addressed the issue and the research gap thus identified. The is non-empirical qualitative research reliant on secondary data for its analysis.