Article 2 of the Saudi Fertility Units Law

This article lays down the basis on which infertility treatment rests, and contains two rulings:

First: when medical intervention is permitted

• If the infertility results from reduced fertility or from a treatable medical problem.
• This is on the basis of a medical report, so intervention does not begin without a report establishing the condition.

Second: when it is prohibited

• Fertilization procedures are absolutely not permitted to treat infertility where the inability of the person affected to have children is established.

Under Article 1, infertility is a delay in pregnancy for a couple of more than 12 months within an existing marital relationship. The article thus distinguishes between a condition that can be treated and a condition in which inability to have children is established, and it prohibits fertilization in the latter absolutely. This ties in with the fact that, in the definitions of Article 1, fertilization procedures rest on the husband's sperm and the wife's egg.

Next comes Article 3, which requires fertilization units, in carrying on their activity, to comply with the religious rulings (fatwas) issued by the Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom.

Anyone with a legal question about a particular treatment case may consult a lawyer specializing in health regulations, while the medical assessment is for the specialist doctor.