The Guardianship over Children Created from Stem Cells in Viewpoint of Contemporary Imamiyah Jurisprudents

The use of stem cells in the production of germ cells and embryo is among the newest topics in the field of reproductive biotechnology. These cells have regenerative power and capacity for differentiation and transformation into other types of body cells. Meanwhile, the issue of guardianship over children created from stem cells is a problem which majority of jurisprudents attempt to justify and accept. However, the existence of opposition should not be ignored. The main concern of this research is that whether the title of paternity is totally denied or it is valid when the embryo is taken from a man’s cell or taken from a woman’s cell alone and becomes an embryo; whether in the first case, the guardianship, under any condition, belongs to the cell owner who is a man; and whether in the second case, the evidence of guardianship over the child holds for this woman as the mother or as a valid case of paternity as well, or the ruler is the guardian of the child and grants this guardianship to the cell owner who is a woman. In this article, the opinions of jurisprudents are expressed and examined on different possible conditions of embryo formation from stem cells, that is, from skin or bone marrow, either of them belonging only to a child, a woman, or a man.