Embryo Donation and the Conditions of Children’s Inheritance: A Shiite Perspective

Abstract

This study explains the lineage in embryo donation and the inheritance of born children. This study was conducted with a library, descriptive and analytical design, relying on books of jurisprudence and laws of Shia and other Islamic religions, as well as citing some legal studies. Under Ayatollah Khamenei’s original fatwa in 1990, which permitted gamete donation by third parties. This legal approach paved the way for the adoption of the Embryo Donation to Infertile Spouses Act in 2003. The embryos formed from a man’s sperm and the ovum of his legitimate wife, with any methods of embryo formation and its transfer to the aforementioned man and woman, have a legitimate lineage and there will be no problem in the inheritance for the baby. However, the embryos formed from the sperm of another man (other than a legal husband) or the egg of another woman (other than a legal wife) regardless of the method (natural or artificial) will not have legitimate lineage, and as a result, donated children are deprived of inheritance. To ensure the financial future of children born through embryo donation, solutions such as an official will or using the life insurance industry can be considered as a temporary solution. However, it is necessary to review the embryo donation law by religious and legislative authorities.