X AND Y. There’s only one or the other in each sperm, and each of these chromosomes has an equal chance of being the first to fertilize the solitary egg that is their target. But that was before scientists devised methods for embryo sex selection, carried out by separating X-bearing and Y-bearing sperm prior to intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization.

Today, specialists can give a helping hand to either the Xs or the Ys, depending on the gender that parents request.

Here in Egypt, the issue of embryo sex selection was recently brought to the fore when several prominent religious scholars condoned human intervention in the fertilization of human eggs to determine the gender of a fetus. They do, however, differ on the critical issue of the circumstances under which a Muslim couple could resort to the technique.

Prof. Mohamed Rafaat Othman, a member of the Islamic Research Academy (IRA) the body responsible for issuing fatwas on behalf of Al-Azhar condones sex selection unconditionally. He asserts that Shariah does not forbid Muslims from determining their babies’ sex, basing his fatwa on the Islamic principle of ibaha asliya (basic permissibility). Ibaha asliya argues that all things are designed for the enjoyment of mankind, as long as there is no explicit verse prohibiting them or that the issue in question is demonstrated to have some attribute that would necessitate prohibition.

“To start with,” Othman says, “Muslim scholars have concluded that beneficial things are permissible as long as no there is no text forbidding them. God created the universe so humans could benefit from all [that] it encompasses, and several chapters of the Qur’an prove that. There is no proof that God forbade the selection of an embryo’s sex either in the Qur’an or through the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). As for the second proof, the Qur’an has proven explicitly that one of God’s prophets, peace be upon all of them, prayed that God to endow him with a son. That was Prophet Zakaria [19:5],” says Othman.

“The legal rule is that everything that God allowed his worshippers to ask Him for must be permissible. So humans are allowed to ask God to endow them with means of subsistence or sons [instead of daughters]. Since it has been proven that one of the Prophets prayed to God for a son, [it follows] that seeking male embryos is permissible,” says Othman.

He does not expect such sex selection to threaten the biological equilibrium between men and women. “Human beings are instinctively prone to diversity, so they would like to have both males and females. We find those who gave birth to many males wishing to have a daughter, and vice versa,” says Othman.

While some point to the population distortion arising in China from a different type of sex selection (female infanticide), many Muslim scholars who oppose the legalization of sex selection base their argument on one verse from the Qur’an: “He bestows both males and females, and He leaves barren whom He will: for He is full of Knowledge and Power [42:50].”

Othman is unconvinced: “Nothing happens in this world against God’s will. If God wants a human to have males, He will put at his disposal the means that would allow him to have males,” says Othman. “If we agreed that the verse forbids the determination of babies’ sex, it would be necessary to forbid the treatment of human infertility, because God states in the same verse that He decides who will be barren. No sane person would say that infertility treatment is prohibited.”

Abdel Moati Bayoumi, a former dean of Al-Azhar’s school of Fundamentals of Islam and an IRA member, also advocates the authorization of new technologies to select embryo gender, but only under conditions that would maintain the balance between the sexes.

“Embryo sex selection should not be authorized without restrictions, otherwise the natural equilibrium would be threatened because all people would prefer to have sons instead of daughters. I would say that those who have several sons and wish to have one daughter might be allowed to choose their embryo’s sex and vice versa,” says Bayoumi “This mechanism should be regulated by a law.” He continues, “The Ministry of Health would assume the role of observing the practice of these new techniques.”

As for first-time parents, Bayoumi believes that they should not be allowed to select their embryo’s sex, but wait and see what God would endow them with. He insists that sex selection should only be carried out within the parameters of assisted reproduction of married couples.

“There is no legal provision that would forbid couples to choose the type of sperm carrying the chromosome of the aspired-for sex. As for the remaining sperm, they could be thrown away. But it is illegal to carry out abortion if the couple is not satisfied with the baby’s sex,” says Bayoumi.

Nasr Farid Wassel, a former Grand Mufti of Egypt, is of the same mind, explaining that sex selection is a form of “family planning,” which is condoned by Al-Azhar.

“This process is far from defying God’s will. Science has improved, and it can now separate X-bearing from Y-bearing sperms, so scientists are not creating something new, but are basing their work on what God has already created. This process is not changing God’s creation, but it is a kind of treatment like the treatment of infertility,” explains Wassel.

“However, everything is contingent upon God’s will. If somebody wants to have a son, his dream would not be fulfilled unless God destines him to have a son,” adds Wassel. He does not, though, provide a clear of list of regulations to govern the endorsement sex selection techniques, but rather insists that each case should be judged separately by both religious and medical authorities to determine whether the technique is applicable in each case.

But other scholars say that type of regulation is far from sufficient. Malaka Zirar, an independent scholar of Shariah and Positive Law and also the author of an Islamic encyclopedia on norms governing marital relationship in Islam, believes sex selection could be authorized in “cases of dire necessity” only to prevent sex-linked genetic disorders; otherwise, condoning sex selection would be “a violation of God’s commandment and will.”

“Defying God’s will by intervening with his creation is a crime committed in the name of science. Science should only be serving our religious concerns, otherwise it is destructive,” she says. Zirar, who holds a PhD in Islamic Shariah and Law and who has recently become a prominent independent religious figure issuing fatwas on women’s issues, expects any possible fatwa on sex selection to be misused in Arab and Islamic societies to give birth only to males.

“This imbalance would result in the proliferation of homosexuality and other diseases that only God knows,” Zirar warns in a stern tone.

According to Hisham Abdullah, a pediatrician and vice-chairman of the Medical Genetic Center at Ain Shams University School of Medicine, several genetic diseases are carried by the X chromosome. This means that mothers who carry the recessive defective gene for the disease may pass it on to their sons, he adds.

“Sex determination shows that if the embryo is a female, she might be healthy, but she may be carrying the recessive defective gene, which she may pass on to her sons in the future. As for males, there is a 50 percent possibility that they inherit the disease because they inherit their X chromosome from the mother,” explains Abdullah.

Fatal Duchenne Myopathy, hemophilia and fafism are among the common X-linked diseases, says Abdullah, adding that those diseases are widespread among the nation’s children.

“In case of Duchenne, which is a muscular disease, the child dies when he reaches the age of seven. Due to the insufficiency of a specific enzyme, muscles get weaker, especially the heart and pulmonary muscles. Ultimately, the child dies of pulmonary failure or cardiomyopathy,” says Abdullah, adding that rare genetic disorders are transferred by the Y chromosome passed on from fathers to their male children.

Abdullah opposes the unconditional predetermination of an embryo’s sex, voicing concern that it might disturb the ratio of men to women.

“If sex selection would prevent the child from catching a genetic disease, there will be no problem. But the matter should be regulated by law to avoid the misuse of sex selection just to serve personal preferences,” says Abdullah.  et