I will show that the questions raised by monotheist religions regarding medically assisted reproduction are very often the same questions that individuals resorting to these techniques ask themselves — whatever their religious affiliation or non-affiliation — about the concepts of adultery, incest and descent, particularly when the reproductive process involves a donor. This study focuses on Sunni Islam, the subject of much of my work, while also comparing the situation with that of other monotheisms. I analyze the position of Sunni Muslim jurists (fuqaha’) with regard to different reproductive techniques. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, I combine this specific study with a comparative analysis from a religious viewpoint, putting Sunni Islam into perspective with other monotheisms, specifically Judaism and Roman Catholicism, as well as the other branch of Islam represented by Shi’ism. Although, in Islamic jurisprudence as in many other cultures and legislations, the father is presumed to be the mother’s husband, the fact that the child comes from the father’s sperm is decisive with respect to the representation of descent, since this substance constitutes the essential biological support of patrilineal descent. In addition, the fact that adoptive kinship (tabannî) is prohibited in Islam shows the difficulty of considering descent that is not founded on a biological substance — a difficulty that is also shared by the popular Euro-American conception of kinship.