Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

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New antiviral remedies have greatly improved the prognosis of patients infected with AIDS, as well as their life expectancy and quality of life, and assisted reproductive techniques have made it possible for many HIV positive patients to have healthy children. Nevertheless, most assisted reproduction centers continue to reject these couples, and this is a factor that contributes to their isolation from the society. The present study was performed through document and library research, and the results were investigated from the viewpoints of the infected couple, their future children, and health care staff. Social and legal issues were evaluated through consultation and collaboration of experts, and related articles, guidelines and accessible material were examined for this purpose. Every individual has the right to reproduction. If it is possible for HIV positive couples to have children with the help of fertility lab techniques, and provided that throughout the process there is no danger of disease transmission to others and particularly the embryo, ART centers should not reject HIV positive couples. Rejection of these couples is against the principles of medical ethics and in violation of the current effective laws of the country. On the other hand, acceptance of patients infected with Hepatitis type C, advanced cancers, mental diseases, and so on is further proof that rejecting HIV positive couples is a form of discrimination and unethical. The word HIV itself is synonymous with the stigma of social deviance, and it seems children of infected parents are not in the ideal position from the public point of view. One step that needs to be taken is for the society to try to remove this stigma and provide support for all chronically ill patients. There is no valid justification for rejecting HIV positive couples in ART centers, and it appears to be unethical and a violation of human rights to deny these couples the right to have healthy children through modern technology.

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Reproduction and fertility are considered a substantial need for the survival of the human race and has seen its ups and downs. Advances in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ARTs) have brought some changes as well as challenge in human reproduction. For instance, involvement of a third-party in pregnancy has become a challenging practice. Given the rapid application of ARTs in Iran, obscure aspects and consequences associated with this technology need to be elaborated. The present study aimed at investigating the identity and rights of children resulting from ARTs based on the existing laws and the opinions of the contemporary Shi’ite Grand Ayatollahs. First, by reviewing the sources of Islamic law as well as searching the legal and reliable electronic resources -using key terms such as parentage, guardianship, embryo donation and infertility- the existing laws and regulations about ARTs have been analyzed. Then, by a qualitative method, written opinions of some contemporary Shi’ite Grand Ayatollahs regarding the identity and the rights of a child born by involvement of a third party were collected. The result shows inconsistency between the opinion of the contemporary Islamic jurists and the existing law about embryo donation. Islamic Jurists believe that the child of embryo donation does not belong to the recipient couple. However, according to the Embryo Donation Act, in particular with regard to the duties placed upon infertile couples, who receive the donated embryo, implicitly accept the recipient couple as the parents of the child. This eventually leaves the child with an identity crisis besides deprivation of citizenship rights in some cases. Accordingly, as the current rules and legislations of Iran conflicts with views of the Islamic jurists, to resolve this problem, a revision to accept the recipients as legal parents of the child is necessary.