Abstract

Background: The Islamic religion permits Muslim women to undergo an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure, however, the women are not allowed to terminate the pregnancy after the first 120 days. Pregnancy maintenance after this procedure is very important. Prenatal diagnosis tests are divided into screening and invasive tests which are low risk for abortions.

Aims: To compare the disparities in the use of prenatal tests in Muslim women who had undergone an IVF procedure to Muslim women who had experienced a normal spontaneous pregnancy, in addition to the attitudes of each group of women towards pregnancy termination when an abnormal fetus was detected. Methods: Nine hundred Muslim women participated in this study; 40% (364) had undergone IVF treatments and 60% (536) had not. All the women completed a questionnaire which was published in social media using Qualtrics software and analyzed by SPSS software.

Results: Muslim women who had undergone an IVF procedure performed more prenatal tests, including a noninvasive prenatal test than Muslim women who were naturally pregnant. All women diagnosed with an abnormal fetus (170), terminated their pregnancy and received more support from their husband and family.

Conclusion: Women who had undergone an IVF procedure were most likely to be more openminded and aware of new tests and technologies and believe in pregnancy termination due to intensive counselling received as to the higher risk of aneuploidy and imprinting diseases in the fetus after the IVF procedure.