The Lineage of Children Born by Sperm Donation: A Shiite Perspective

There are three persons that have a possible legal relationship to the child born from this method – the sperm donor (biological father), the wife’s husband (social father) and the wife (mother).

In order to comprehend fertility, it is important to understand how conception naturally occurs. First, the ovary must release (ovulate) an egg, which must be picked up by the fallopian tubes. Sperm must travel through the vagina into the uterus and into the fallopian tube in order to fertilize the egg. Fertilization usually takes place in the fallopian tube. Then, the fertilized egg or embryo travels down to the uterus, where it implants in the uterine lining and develops. Infertility occurs when there is a problem at any part of this process. Infertility is defined as one year of unprotected intercourse that does not result in pregnancy. This condition may be further classified as primary in – fertility, in which no previous pregnancies have occurred and secondary infertility where a prior pregnancy, although not necessarily a live birth, has occurred.

Background:Despite the meager role of the masculine agent in infertility (the low number of infertile men than women infertile), there are men whose wives are unable to become pregnant due to the absence of sperm, decreased numbers of sperm or lack of sufficient motile sperm. Utilizing donated sperm is a method that enables these families to have children. The use of this method prompts us to ask different questions, among which is the quality of the child’s relation to the sperm donor, the sterile man and his wife. In this research we intend to study the issue of lineage of those who use heterogeneous insemination.
Materials and Methods: This analytical-descriptive research gathered relevant data in a Literature search. After a description of the fundamentals and definitions, juridical texts were subsequently analyzed and one of the viewpoints regarding lineage related to infertility treatment by donated sperm was selected.
Results: There are three persons that have a possible legal relationship to the child born from this method – the sperm donor (biological father), the wife’s husband (social father) and the wife (mother). In treating infertility with donated sperm, there is neither a third party to make the possibility of attribution of the child nor is there a doubt that the child is the result of insemination of the woman’s egg with the donated sperm rather than the husband’s sperm as he has a lack of sperm.
Conclusion: The child born by heterogeneous insemination only has a relation with the sperm donor and the woman contributing her egg. This child is eligible for all parental rights and obligations. These children are not related to the sterile man.

Bibliographic Information

Title: The Lineage of Children Born by Sperm Donation: A Shiite Perspective

Author: Saeed Nazeri Tavakkoli

Published in: International Journal of Fertility and Sterility, OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 , Volume 9 , Number 3; Page(s) 403 To 410

 Language: English

Length: 8 pages

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