Question
When a baby girl is adopted and breastfed by the adoptive mother, do the brothers of the adoptive father (married to the mother) become the baby girl’s foster uncles and are they regarded as Mahram.
The foster mother fed the daughter with hormonal tablets which created the milk within her.
In this case does the foster father become the foster daughter’s Mahram, and do the foster father’s brothers become her Mahrams or not?
Answer
Breast milk that is produced by using medication would establish milk-kinship between the breastfeeding mother and the suckling child, but not between the breastfeeding mother’s husband and the suckling child.
From the afore-going discussion, the following can be deduced:
When a man is not the means of a woman conceiving a child, he cannot become a foster father (Radhaa’ie father). This is because the milk she produces is not considered to be “milk from the male” (لبن الفحل) . To not considered further sum up, the following will apply:-
The Woman’s Role: A woman who produces milk through medication or other treatment, without a pregnancy caused by her husband, becomes a foster mother if she breastfeeds a child that is not hers. This is a direct bond based on the act of feeding.
The Man’s Role: Her husband, because he was not instrumental in her producing the milk, he only becomes a step-father (Rabee). He does not achieve the status of a foster father. The crucial point is that his role in her life does not automatically extend to establishing milk kinship unless he is the biological cause of her lactation. This relationship is dependent on his direct biological contribution.
Checked and Approved By:
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.