KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim women in Malaysia are forbidden to freeze their eggs before marriage.

Syariah law only allows a ­woman’s eggs to be fertilised by her husband’s sperm.

Thus, freezing her eggs for social purposes was not allowed, said fertility expert Dr Natasha Ain Mohd Nor.

“A fatwa has been established for Muslim women, where freezing their eggs before marriage is not permissible.

“However, after marriage, they can freeze their eggs provided these are fertilised by the sperm of the husband,” she said.

Dr Natasha said egg freezing in Islam was only encouraged if the woman was unable to conceive ­naturally due to a medical condition, and not when young single women freeze their eggs to become pregnant later on in life.

Dr Natasha, who works at the KL Fertility Centre, said Muslim women who opted to freeze their eggs were usually those with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer.

“Muslim women wishing to freeze their eggs do it for medical purposes. But this is still a very small minority.

“These women are usually undergoing chemotherapy. They are referred by their doctor to a fertility expert to assist them to freeze their eggs as an option should they later decide to have children.”

Asked whether there were other reasons for Muslim women seeking to freeze their eggs, Dr Natasha said she had helped freeze the eggs of Muslim women whose husbands could not produce enough sperm.

“What happens is that we freeze the woman’s eggs, and then give the husband a day or two to produce the sperm to fertilise them.”

Dr Natasha encouraged women in general not to delay pregnancy, saying egg freezing was not a 100% guarantee that they would conceive. – Bernama