Assisted reproduction developments in the Islamic world

A November 2000 workshop organized by the International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, considered use of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) in the Islamic world. The work shop reinforced a 1997 recommendation that a Standing Committee for Shari'a Medical Ethics be constituted to monitor and assess developments in ART pr actice. Among issues the workshop addressed were equitable access to servic es for infertile couples of modest means, and regulation of standards of eq uipment and personnel that ART centers should satisfy to gain approval to o ffer services. Acceptable uses of preimplantation genetic diagnosis were pr oposed, and follicular maturation research in animals, including in vitro m aturation and in vitro growth of oocytes, was encouraged, leading to human applications. Embryo implantation following a husband's death, induced post menopausal pregnancy, uterine transplantation and gene therapy were address ed and human reproductive cloning condemned, but cloning human embryos for stem cell research was considered acceptable. (C) 2001 International Federa tion of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All rights reserved.