IVF Turns Families Topsy-Turvy

I know it is so hard sometimes to stand by the Church’s teaching when a baby is so desperately wanted (and so many people, including Catholics, are doing it) but this article reaffirms why none of us are using IVF. Truly our Catholic Church has shown us that she is there to guide us and while our fidelity doesn’t always bring us the blessing of a baby, we will be blessed in many other ways, ways we can’t always see.

As demand for in vitro fertilization continues to rise, so too are concerns
over the clinics and consequences for families. A leading British expert
recently had harsh words for the industry, whose methods have long been
criticized by the Church.Robert Winston, professor of fertility studies at
Imperial College London, said clinics had been corrupted by money and that
doctors were exploiting women desperate to get pregnant, reported the Guardian
on May 31. “It’s very easy to exploit people by the fact that they’re desperate
and you’ve got the technology, which they want, which may not work,” he
said.When it comes to the impact on family life, one of the changes introduced
is the trend toward older mothers, reported the London-based Times newspaper
June 6. The proportion of in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients aged between 40
and 45 has risen from 10% in the 1990s to 15% in 2006, the article noted. Last
year a total of 6,174 women in this age group had fertility treatment, compared
with just 596 in 1991. The average age of all fertility patients has also
increased by a full year since 1996, from 33.8 to 34.8. The information comes
from data published by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority.The
Times commented that the success rate of treatments at an older age is much
lower. For women aged between 40 and 42, the live birthrate for a first
treatment cycle is 9%. Once they are 44 or above it is 1%. Moreover, at 40, the
risk of miscarriage is twice what it is at 20, and there is an increased
likelihood of ectopic pregnancy, premature birth, stillbirth, neonatal death and
birth defects. Twins at 60Shortly before the publication of this data, news came
from the United States of a 60-year-old woman who gave birth to twin boys,
reported the Associated Press, May 23. Frieda Birnbaum gave birth to the boys at
Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey.Another case that received
attention was that of Spanish mother Carmela Bousada, who gave birth at 67 to
twins, reported the Times on Jan. 29. She underwent IVF treatment at the Pacific
Fertility Center in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Canadian newspaper the Ottawa
Citizen reported April 18 the case of Melanie Boivin, who donated some of her
ova to her daughter, Flavie.The daughter, aged 7, is sterile due to a genetic
condition. The article commented that if Flavie eventually decides to use the
ova and becomes pregnant, she will be give birth to her genetic sister and
Melanie Boivin will simultaneously become mother and grandmother.The mother’s
actions were criticized by ethicist Margaret Somerville, the paper reported. “We
have to think about what we are doing when we are running around nature,” she
said, noting that such a procedure completely overturns the normal transition of
life.Another practice that raises ethical doubts is the increasing use of
surrogate mothers from developing nations to bear children for families from
richer nations. One of the countries where this is taking place is India,
explained an article published by Reuters on Feb. 4. A surrogate mother in the
United States would cost a couple anything up to $50,000, Gautam Allahbadia, a
fertility specialist, told Reuters. In India, however, it can be done for
$10,000-$12,000. The Indian clinics usually charge $2,000-$3,000 for the
procedure while the surrogate mother is paid $3,000-$6,000.The article observed
that there are no official figures, but it is possible that 100-150 surrogate
babies are born each year in India.MotherlessClinics are also starting to offer
treatments aimed at the homosexual community. The Los Angeles-based The
Fertility Institutes has launched a program for homosexual men who want to
become parents, Reuters reported March 14.According to clinic director Jeffrey
Steinberg they have already treated about 70 gay male couples while preparing
the new service. He also noted that around three-quarters of the homosexual
couples pay extra to choose the sex of their baby. The convoluted parental
structures created by IVF techniques also give rise to complex legal problems. A
surrogate mother who has no genetic connection to the baby she is carrying does
not have to be listed as the mother on a birth certificate, ruled the Maryland
Court of Appeals, according to a report by the Associated Press on May 16.The
case involved twins born in 2001. The woman carried the twins for a father who
used an egg donor, and the surrogate mother had no genetic relationship to the
twins. Another case, still to be decided, involves the fate of a couple’s frozen
embryos. Augusta and Randy Roman decided to go ahead with treatment to produce
the embryos, but just hours before they were due to be implanted in the wife’s
womb, her husband decided he did not want to go ahead with the procedure,
reported the Los Angeles Times on May 30.This took place in 2002 and the
following year the couple divorced. Since then they have disagreed over the fate
of the frozen embryos and the matter has now reached the Supreme Court of Texas.
Randy wants the embryos destroyed or to remain frozen.The Los Angeles Times
noted that so far the top courts of six states have ruled in such cases. In
general they have decided that the right of one ex-spouse to not procreate
trumps that of the other to procreate.Not morally neutralThe Church has long
warned of the problems associated with IVF. In 1987 the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith published the “Instruction on Respect for Human Life in
Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation,” (“Donum Vitae”).Since 1987, the
technologies involved in IVF have changed greatly, but many of the underlying
ethical problems are the same. Science and technology are valuable resources,
the instruction readily acknowledged. Nevertheless, it is a mistake to consider
that scientific research and its applications are morally neutral.Moreover, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explained, they must be put at the
service of the human person and should follow the criteria of the moral law. It
is a mistake to consider the human body as merely made up of biological
elements, the instruction argued. The human person has both a bodily and a
spiritual nature.As well, when it comes to the question of transmitting human
life, it is not permissible to ignore the special nature of the human person.
From the moment of conception, the instruction insisted, the life of every human
person must be respected. In addition, the gift of human life should be carried
out in the context of acts by a husband and wife.The congregation admitted that
the desire for children and the love between spouses who wish to overcome
problems of sterility “constitute understandable motivations,” behind the use of
IVF methods. Nevertheless, the instruction continued, the existence of good
intentions needs to be placed alongside the nature of marriage and the need to
respect the rights of the child.The document also commented on how only too
often IVF techniques involve the destruction of human embryos. By acting in this
manner we place ourselves in the position of imposing “death by decree,” the
text warned. The regular practice of such acts carries with it the risk of
creating a mentality that leads us to a domination over the life and death of
fellow human beings, the congregation adverted. A domination that with the
passing of time is creating a seemingly unstoppable slide into practices that
bring about serious moral and social dilemmas.