Married couple having ‘test tube babies’ ruled legal by Shariat Court

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) on Tuesday declared legal using an artificial procedure to have children, dubbed ‘test-tube babies’, if the parents are spouses.

The court ruled that the procedure, the most common one being In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), illegal otherwise. It also ruled against surrogacy, terming it unlawful and against the injunctions of holy Quran and Sunnah, the court observed.

A full bench of the FSC, comprising Chief Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan, Justice Allama Dr Fida Muhammad Khan and Justice Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani, in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 203-D of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan examined the contemporary issue of IVF and surrogacy in light of injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

The court also directed for appropriate amendments in Section 2 of the Contract Act, 1872 and in the Pakistan Penal Code. It said that a suitable section of law be added in the PPC regarding definition of surrogacy and it be declared an offence punishable with imprisonment as well as fine.

The court directed that amendments should also be made in the PPC to punish a surrogate, the couple who arranges a surrogate, and the doctor who maintains the sperm bank or egg bank and those who carry out the surrogacy procedure. The amendment should also entail that the doctor loses his license, the court said.