Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religious country where the majority of the population (63.5 percent) profess to follow Islam. Currently, only Muslims in the country are legally obliged to observe Islamic shariah laws, including fatwas (Islamic religious rulings) on new medical technologies. Non-Muslims in Malaysia are however exempt from such religious observances, and are free to undergo medical procedures that are specifically banned for Muslims, such as elective egg freezing for single women. Indeed over the past few years, many non-Muslim foreigners, particularly from Singapore, have travelled to Malaysia to undergo egg freezing, which until recently was banned in Singapore.
Recently, in August 2022, a new fatwa was issued in Malaysia, which explicitly bans elective egg freezing for fertility preservation by single Muslim women before marriage. This newly-issued fatwa reinforced an earlier fatwa issued in 2003, which indirectly banned the procedure by prohibiting the merging of egg and sperm cells that were produced before marriage. An even earlier fatwa issued in 1981, banned sperm banking for Muslim men in Malaysia (for both self-use and donation); so it was argued that the same principle should also apply to frozen egg banking for unmarried Muslim women.
By contrast, a fatwa issued in Egypt in 2019 (see BioNews 1014), permitted social egg freezing for single Muslim women, provided certain conditions pertaining to laboratory standards and clinical practice have been met to protect the lineage of the conceived child (Hifz al-Nasl), which is one of the major objectives of shariah law (Maqasid al-Shariah)
The prohibition of social egg freezing by this new Malaysian Fatwa is based on three objections, each of which will be briefly discussed in turn. The first objection relates to religious prohibition against the deliberate, willful and conscious release of gametes outside the human body (Istimna), by unmarried people. It must be noted that ejaculation by a married man through masturbation in the presence of his wife is considered permissible in Islam, which is why semen collection for IVF and intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedures is permissible for Muslim married couples. Similarly, egg extraction in Islam for married women is also permissible, within the context of IVF treatment with her husband's sperm.
Although unlike male ejaculation of semen during masturbation, female egg cells are instead released and collected by a suction device (ovum aspiration needle), the act is still deliberate, willful and consciously-made by a single woman, as in the case of a single man. Hence, it is deemed to be tantamount to masturbation (Istimna) outside marriage, even though the physical process of releasing female egg cells out of the body is obviously different to that of the male, and requires medical intervention.
The second objection relates to women undergoing social egg freezing due to anticipated menopause as a result of late marriage, which is considered to be a matter of conjecture that has not yet happened. In this case, the consensus among Islamic scholars is that shariah laws and fatwa rulings cannot be applied based on just mere conjectures, but must be grounded in certainties. In principle, shariah that is constructed by conjecture is rejected and not accepted except in an emergency situation or dire need. For example, in the case of female cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy that might destroy their future fertility, several Malaysian Muslim scholars have argued for a special exception for these women to preserve their fertility through egg freezing.
The third objection relates to merging of egg and sperm cells that are produced before marriage, which is thought to violate the sanctity of marriage and muddle the legitimacy of the conceived child's lineage. This is somewhat analogous to shariah injunctions that a child is considered to be illegitimate by default (Walad Zina), if it is born sooner than six lunar months after marriage. This is because the child must presumably have been conceived by illicit sexual relations before marriage (Zina), which would involve the merging of sperm and egg cells that were produced before marriage.
The issuance of this new fatwa is a timely and proactive response to clarify and explain to single Malaysian Muslim women, why social egg freezing remains banned in their own country, when neighbouring Singapore has recently legalised this procedure. Additionally, it may also serve to inform single Malaysian Muslim women that they are not adhering to Islamic principles if they choose to undergo elective egg freezing overseas, particularly in Singapore.
Only three known mammalian species go through menopause: humans, orcas, and short-finned pilot whales, all of which are intelligent social organisms that live in family groups. It has long been debated why the females of these species lose the ability to have children, but continue living for decades after. A popular secular scientific theory that attempts to explain why this occurs in human females is the 'Grandmother Hypothesis'; which posits that menopause evolved in women to extend their lifespans, so that they can contribute to the upbringing of their grandchildren and pass down accumulated cultural wisdom and traditions as respected elders, which in turn enhance the survival prospects of their extended family or tribe.
A Muslim viewpoint and Islamic perspective on such a secular hypothesis would instead posit that God (Allah) is being most merciful and gracious in extending women's lifespan with menopause, knowing that childbirth takes such a heavy toll on the female body, particularly for older women. By deliberately sparing older women from the pains and risks of pregnancy and childbirth through menopause, God wisely ensures surviving female elders within the extended family who can help take care of young children, and pass down their cultural heritage to the next generation.
The new fatwa ruling explains that Muslims should not alter nature's or God's finely-tuned and intelligent blueprint for humanity by social egg-freezing to facilitate late motherhood.
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