October 27. On this date 1981, the Universal House of Justice wrote Helen Hornby regarding surrogate mothers and artificial insemination, noting "Artificial insemination is, therefore, permissible to a Bahá'í wife provided her husband is the donor."

 

October 27. On this date 1981, the Universal House of Justice wrote Helen Hornby regarding surrogate mothers and artificial insemination, noting "Artificial insemination is, therefore, permissible to a Bahá'í wife provided her husband is the donor."

973. Surrogate Mothers and Artificial Insemination

"Regarding surrogate mothers and artificial insemination, you will find the following extracts from statements made by the Universal House of Justice relevant to your questions:

'The beloved Guardian, in a letter written on his behalf to an individual believer who enquired on the same subject, said "...there is nothing in our teachings about this, therefore there is no objection to having a baby by means of artificial insemination as long as your husband is the father of it.'

'Artificial insemination is, therefore, permissible to a Bahá'í wife provided her husband is the donor.'"

(From a letter dated 11 July 1978 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

"Also, after quoting the above statement of the Guardian, the following comment was made in another letter:

'In view of this, the House of Justice has stated that it would not be proper for a Bahá'í to donate semen to a hospital for the artificial insemination of a woman other than his wife.'"

(From a letter dated 25 May 1979 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia)

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the compiler of this compilation, October 27, 1981)