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Title :

Surrogacy and its Complexity as a Misunderstood Concept: An Islamic Perspective

Authors :

Dauda Muhammad, Ahmed Hammawa Song & Abdulmutalib Muktar

The aim of this paper is to examine the concept of surrogacy, identify the legal issues associated with it, and analyze its legal implications from an Islamic perspective. The paper discusses the concept of surrogacy and its practice among Muslims, including the nature of surrogacy, the factors driving its practice, and how it operates in medical clinics. The research also identifies the different types of surrogacy and examines its effects on the surrogate parties and the children born through surrogacy. These effects include legal, emotional, social, and health risks. Additionally, the paper highlights secular views on the legal perceptions of surrogacy, including the perspectives of pro-surrogacy advocates, opponents of surrogacy, liberal views, and feminist perspectives. The complexities of determining the real parent of a surrogate child, as well as the child's relationship to their biologically born siblings, are also discussed. Documentary and survey methods were adopted in writing the paper. The research finds that surrogacy presents inherent problems related to the lineage of the surrogate child, and as a result, some aspects of surrogacy are considered forbidden (Haram), while others are deemed reprehensible (Makruh). The research also concludes that the biological mother is the real mother of the surrogate child, and the child is considered illegitimate, except in the case of a reprehensible (Makruh) surrogacy.