A jurisprudential-medical analysis of the attribution of true dual motherhood in the assumption of a complete surrogate womb

Document Type : Original/ Research Article

Authors
mostafa keykha 1
mohammad reza keykha 2
dor mohammad kordetamandane 3
hosein khodayar 4
1 PhD student of Fiqh and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Fiqh and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
3 Professor, Department of Biology, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
4 Assistant Professor, Department of Fiqh and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
10.30497/flj.2025.247710.2135
Abstract
Research problem and purpose: The word "mother", a title that is respected and sometimes sanctified in all civilizations. Especially in the moral practice of Islam, mother and the description of motherhood have a unique position and are even considered women's rights. In addition to this statement; advances in the field of medical sciences and new methods of fertility and compensation for childbirth disability, including the IVF method or surrogacy, in which the embryo of the couple (fertilization of sperm of a woman and an infertile man in a laboratory environment) is placed in the womb of another woman until birth, poses a challenge and jurisprudential complexity to the assignment of the title of mother and the discovery of the real mother. From a jurisprudential perspective, the most important challenge will be to discover the identity and role of the woman who has the womb and assign the title of mother to each of the two women or the theory of true dual motherhood. The formative role of each of the women involved in this process, in accordance with current medical data, raises the question: Can both women be considered real mothers based on jurisprudential references and medical confirmations? In other words, can a child have two mothers at the same time with equal duties and rights? This issue has not been addressed in previous studies, and due to the novelty of the subject, Imamiyyah jurists have not entered into it. The purpose of this article is to examine various aspects of this issue and find a jurisprudential answer based on the criteria of Imamiyyah jurisprudence, including medical data.
Keywords
Dual motherhood theory
surrogate motherhood
dual motherhood in surrogacy
egg owner
uterus owner
genetics
epigenetics
Subjects
Holy Quran
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Biannual Journal of Family Law And Jurisprudence
Volume 31, Issue 84
March 2026
Pages 5-39