Pregnancy

... the Bahá’í Writings affirm that the human soul comes into being at the time of conception. However, they do not clearly define the exact biological moment and nature of the event described as conception and this may, indeed, be a question that is insoluble by human thought or investigation, since it relates to mysteries of the spiritual world and the nature of the soul itself.

The beloved Guardian states in a letter written on his behalf to an individual believer, that "... there is no objection to having a baby by means of artificial insemination as long as your husband is the father of it". In view of this, it would not be permissible under Bahá’í law for a Bahá’í couple seeking to have a child to utilize a sperm bank.

The beloved Guardian, in a letter written on his behalf to an individual believer, states, "... there is no objection to having a baby by means of artificial insemination as long as your husband is the father of it." While artificial insemination is a very different process from in-vitro fertilization, the principle enunciated by the Guardian is the same, namely, that to be acceptable to Bahá’ís, the egg cell of the wife should be fertilized by the sperm of the husband in the procedure.

The Universal House of Justice has considered the question of whether Bahá’ís are required to take extraordinary measures to facilitate the natural process of conception. For the present, it is left to the Bahá’í couple to decide whether or not they wish to use in vitro fertilization as a means of having children. The use of such procedures is clearly a matter of choice, and not a requirement. In this regard, there is value in obtaining the best medical advice available.

____ has raised a number of questions in her search for a deeper understanding of the implications to which the House of Justice has referred. The proposed procedure [surrogacy] leads to a mechanistic use of the human body, incompatible with the dignity assigned to the individual in the Bahá’í teachings. Apart from legal questions to which such a procedure could give rise, it should be remembered that, since human beings are endowed with a spiritual nature, an accurate assessment of the implications of the physical actions in which an individual engages must include consideration of the spiritual, emotional and psychological effects of these actions; this interrelationship is evident on examining the emphasis placed in the Bahá’í teachings on modesty, chastity and fidelity. The use of a surrogate for the gestation of an embryo would raise a number of issues pertaining to the future impact on the child itself, as well as the emotional ties between the surrogate and the child, and also between the donor of the ovum and the child.