I can honestly say that I do not understand the desperation that drives some couples to IVF. But I can say that having children is not a “right” it is simply put a “gift”. To drive yourself to such desperate measures that you could and more than likely have killed the one thing that you “want” so badly. Why?
Science and technology have made enormous contributions to our lives and society. But the fact that a certain procedure is technologically possible, does not make it ethically right. What is in vitro fertilization? “In vitro” literally means “in glass.” In vitro fertilization is a process whereby human life is generated in a laboratory environment like a glass petri dish. How is in vitro fertilization carried out? In vitro fertilization begins when fertility technicians administer hormone treatments to a woman. The hormones hyper-stimulate the woman’s ovaries to produce a number of eggs at one time. The eggs are collected from the woman’s body and then combined with sperm. The resulting embryos are nourished in laboratory cultures and inserted into the woman’s body with the hope that one embryo will successfully implant in the lining of the womb and develop. The process is very controlled and involves numerous trips to the in vitro fertilization center. How does in vitro fertilization cause the death of human embryos? The Jones Institute, one of the pioneers of in vitro fertilization, reports that only 10 to 20% of the human embryos produced by in vitro fertilization ever result in a normal pregnancy. The Centers for Disease Control estimated that in 1998, 28,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization in the United States. This means that 140,000 – 280,000 human embryos are missing from the equation for that year alone. What happens to the rest of the embryos? Many embryos die in the transfer process since they are fragile.Some embryos are unwanted and eliminated because they are considered genetically inadequate.Some embryos are stored alive in freezers.Some embryos are simply killed as they are washed down the sink.Why is this wrong? It is a scientific fact that human life begins at conception/fertilization. From conception, a human embryo has a complete genetic code and his or her growth and development is totally coordinated from within. “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person.” When this fundamental moral line is violated or obscured, categories of people become devalued and they become easily used for utilitarian purposes. What about infertile couples who desperately want a child? No one has the right to a child. Even for the most loving of couples, there is no right to a child through either normal conjugal relations or reproductive technologies. In vitro fertilization turns children into commodities. When a couple undergoes in vitro fertilization, they are saying, “We want a child no matter what,” and the child becomes an object. This evolves into a selective mentality, whereby couples choose the kind of child they want. Above all, a child is a gift. Cooperating with God’s plan for human procreation ensures that all children are accepted as gifts. If in vitro fertilization did not bring death or harm to human embryos, would it be okay? In vitro fertilization is wrong because it separates human procreation from conjugal union. In the process, couples make themselves the masters of human life instead of its stewards. Conjugal union has both a unitive and a procreative purpose. In other words, conjugal intimacy is meant to express both love and fruitfulness. Because the human person is a unity of body and spirit, both the unitive and procreative meanings of the conjugal act must be expressed spiritually and physically. The Biblical notion of “two in one flesh” (cf. Gen 2:24) has a concrete significance here. Spousal union is expressed both spiritually and physically. And at the same time, the procreative dimension of conjugal union yields both spiritual benefits and physical fruits. When conjugal union is physically fruitful, a couple participates in God’s creative act instead of dominating it. What is the fundamental principle? Any reproductive technique that replaces the conjugal act undermines the meaning of conjugal union and is an affront human dignity. Is there a connection between in vitro fertilization and cloning? Once in vitro fertilization is accepted, there is no substantial reason to oppose cloning. Both take human procreation out of the context of conjugal union. In vitro fertilization begins the slippery slope that leads to cloning, eugenics and experimentation on human embryos. Is there a connection between in vitro fertilization and contraception? One can easily understand that contraception is a violation of this same principle. Contraception is a separation of the procreative meaning from the unitive meaning of conjugal union. In other words, it’s like saying “yes” to spousal love but “no” to the possibility of a child. When human procreation is disconnected from sexual relations, spouses can quickly become objects for sex. When the human dignity of the spouse is not respected, it becomes difficult to recognize human dignity in others, especially the pre-born child. How does marital integrity protect human dignity? Maintaining both the unitive and procreative meanings of conjugal union guards against the demand for children as a right and the use of spouses for sex. Respect for love and life as essential aspects of martial integrity helps ensure that spouses and children are appreciated as gifts. On a profound level, marital integrity is needed to protect human dignity. Sometimes an embryo will die in normal conjugal relations. Why is it a big deal if embryos die in the process of in vitro fertilization? In normal conjugal relations, no one makes the intentional choice to cause the death or harm of embryos. With in vitro fertilization, there is an intentional choice to carry out a procedure whose consequences are known in advance. Isn’t adoption the same as demanding a child? Adopting a child is accepting someone who, because of some unfortunate circumstance, needs a loving home. Adoption is a generous act focused on a child who already exists. Using in vitro fertilization is not accepting a child as a gift, but rather manipulating a child into existence. What about the children that come from in vitro fertilization? Do they have less dignity? God allows children to be conceived through in vitro fertilization because He respects human freedom. But this does not mean that in vitro fertilization children have any less God-given dignity. Every child is made in the image of God and deserves to be protected and loved. However, this does not mean we can condone in vitro fertilization. Analogously, children are born outside of marriage. That doesn’t mean we should promote the practice. Are there any options for infertile couples? There are natural techniques which can help couples better understand the cycle of fertility and the optimum time for conception. The Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction has been on the forefront of helping couples and families within God’s design. What documents explain this in further detail? There are several documents, which explain the dignity of the person, marriage and family. The documents: Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) by Pope Paul VIDonum Vitae (Gift of Life) by the Congregation for the Doctrine of FaithFamiliaris Consortio (The Family in the Modern World) by Pope John Paul II offer excellent explanation. The pastoral letter Of Human Life by Archbishop Charles Chaput provides an excellent explanation that has specific relevance to the American situationSOURCE
WOW! You are totally and completely wrong, let me guess your not Catholic, right?
The meer fact that your willing to stoop to IVF to get a child turns the whole thing into wanting something (object being the baby). In vitro fertilization turns children into commodities. When a couple undergoes in vitro fertilization, they are saying, “We want a child no matter what,” and the child becomes an object. This evolves into a selective mentality, whereby couples choose the kind of child they want.
Using in vitro fertilization is not accepting a child as a gift, but rather manipulating a child into existence
I am sure you know plenty of folks that have gone through this (let me guess lesbians and homosexual men?). Either way the way these children are made is not right, if you can not understand that basic premise than perhaps you need to re-read the article
And your right my kids are not adopted, they where made the old fashioned way
A human being comes into existence at the moment of fertilization of an oocyte (ovum) by a sperm. This fact has been recognized by the science of Human Embryology since 1883, and is still acknowledged today. The Church teaches that a human being must be respected-as a person-from the very first instant of his existence as a human being, and therefore, from that same moment, his rights as a person must be recognized among which in the first place, is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life. The Church also teaches that from the moral point of view a truly responsible procreation vis-à-vis the unborn child, must be the fruit of marriage.
Pope Paul VI has taught that there is an “inseparable connection, willed by God, and unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning.”
IVF violates the rights of the child: it deprives him of his filial relationship with his parental origins and can hinder the maturing of his personality. It objectively deprives conjugal fruitfulness of its unity and integrity, it brings about and manifests a rupture between genetic parenthood, gestational parenthood, and responsibility for upbringing. This threat to the unity and stability of the family is a source of dissension, disorder, and injustice in the whole of social life.
In Vitro Fertilization
One reproductive technology which the Church has clearly and unequivocally judged to be immoral is in vitro fertilization or IVF. Unfortunately, most Catholics are not aware of the Church’s teaching, do not know that IVF is immoral, and some have used it in attempting to have children. If a couple is unaware that the procedure is immoral, they are not subjectively guilty of sin. Children conceived through this procedure are children of God and are loved by their parents, as they should be. Like all children, regardless of the circumstances of their conception and birth, they should be loved, cherished and cared for.
The immorality of conceiving children through IVF can be difficult to understand and accept because the man and woman involved are usually married and trying to overcome a “medical” problem (infertility) in their marriage. Yet the procedure does violence to human dignity and to the marriage act and should be avoided. But why, exactly, is IVF immoral?
In vitro fertilization brings about new life in a petri dish. Children engendered through IVF are sometimes known as “test tube babies.” Several eggs are aspirated from the woman’s ovary after she has taken a fertility drug which causes a number of eggs to mature at the same time. Semen is collected from the man, usually through masturbation. The egg and sperm are ultimately joined in a glass dish, where conception takes place and the new life is allowed to develop for several days. In the simplest case, embryos are then transferred to the mother’s womb in the hope that one will survive to term.
Obviously, IVF eliminates the marriage act as the means of achieving pregnancy, instead of helping it achieve this natural end. The new life is not engendered through an act of love between husband and wife, but by a laboratory procedure performed by doctors or technicians. Husband and wife are merely sources for the “raw materials” of egg and sperm, which are later manipulated by a technician to cause the sperm to fertilize the egg. Not infrequently, “donor” eggs or sperm are used. This means that the genetic father or mother of the child could well be someone from outside the marriage. This can create a confusing situation for the child later, when he or she learns that one parent raising him or her is not actually the biological parent.
In fact, the identity of the “donor,” whether of egg or sperm, may never be known, depriving the child of an awareness of his or her own lineage. This can mean a lack of knowledge of health problems or dispositions toward health problems which could be inherited. It could lead to half brothers and sisters marrying one another, because neither knew that the sperm which engendered their lives came from the same “donor.”
But even if the egg and sperm come from husband and wife, serious moral problems arise. Invariably several embryos are brought into existence; only those which show the greatest promise of growing to term are implanted in the womb. The others are simply discarded or used for experiments. This is a terrible offense against human life. While a little baby may ultimately be born because of this procedure, other lives are usually snuffed out in the process.
IVF is also expensive, costing at least $10,000 per attempt. Over 90% of the embryos created perish at some point in the process. In a desire to hold down costs and enhance the odds of success, doctors sometimes implant five or more embryos in the mother’s womb. This may result in more babies than a couple wants. In Canada, one woman gave birth to five children engendered by IVF. She had wanted only one, so she sued her doctor for “wrongful life,” demanding that he pay for the cost of raising the four children she did not want.
To avoid the problems of carrying and rearing “too many” babies after several have been implanted, doctors sometimes engage in something euphemistically called “fetal reduction” or “selective reduction.” Here they monitor the babies in utero to see if any have defects or are judged to be not as healthy as the others. Then they eliminate those “less desirable” babies by filling a syringe with potassium chloride, maneuvering the needle toward the “selected” baby in the womb with the aid of ultrasound, and then thrusting the needle into the baby’s heart. The potassium chloride kills the baby within minutes, and he or she is expelled as a “miscarriage.” If it cannot be determined that one baby is less healthy than the others, some doctors simply eliminate the baby or babies who are easiest to reach. Again we see the unspeakable diminishing of the value of human life which can arise from this procedure.
Not everyone who has had a child through IVF has used donor eggs or sperm, collected the sperm through masturbation, or killed “extra” unwanted babies in the course of the pregnancy. Yet there is still a moral problem with the procedure itself. Why?
Why IVF is Wrong
Human beings bear the image and likeness of God. They are to be reverenced as sacred. Never are they to be used as a means to an end, not even to satisfy the deepest wishes of an infertile couple. Husbands and wives “make love,” they do not “make babies.” They give expression to their love for one another, and a child may or may not be engendered by that act of love. The marital act is not a manufacturing process, and children are not products. Like the Son of God himself, we are the kind of beings who are “begotten, not made” and, therefore, of equal status and dignity with our parents.
In IVF, children are engendered through a technical process, subjected to “quality control,” and eliminated if found “defective.” In their very coming into being, these children are thoroughly subjected to the arbitrary choices of those bringing them into being. In the words of Donum Vitae: “The connection between in vitro fertilization and the voluntary destruction of human embryos occurs too often. This is significant: through these procedures, with apparently contrary purposes, life and death are subjected to the decision of man, who thus sets himself up as the giver of life and death by decree.” The document speaks of “the right of every person to be conceived and to be born within marriage and from marriage.” To be within and from marriage, conception should occur from the marriage act which by its nature is ordered toward loving openness to life, not from the manipulations of technicians.
The dehumanizing aspects of some of these procedures is evident in the very language associated with them. There is the “reproductive technology industry.” Children are called the “products” of conception. Inherent in IVF is the treatment of children, in their very coming into being, as less than human beings.
SOURCE
I found myself reading this article with interest, as I am uneasy with IVF and some of the misuses of this technology (ie sex selection, aborting “inperfect” embryos). Personally although I think that children are a gift and not a right, I can’t see that IVF is immoral per se. And I disagree with the comment that contraception is removing one’s human dignity. Maybe some people want to limit the number of children they have, and I would argue that was a responsible attitude!
BTW I am not a Catholic, just an interested general reader.
Kate…
Are you aware that ABC (Birth Control) can cause abortions?
And there are “safer”, “healthier” and less immoral ways to limit or space children than using ABC.
By you saying using BC is a responsible attitude you are really saying that abortion is ok and risking your health is ok.
And if as you say “Personally although I think that children are a gift and not a right” how cant IVF be anything but immoral?
I am very curious about your position since it is so different than my own. In the interest of trying to understand more, I wanted to ask this:
What is your/the church’s opinion in regard to medically correcting hormonal imbalances to produce eggs?
For example, I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). It is a medical condition that impacts my ovaries and prevents them from making eggs on their own.
I require a drug for insulin resistance and two kinds of hormones in order to produce eggs.
I would assume that if I were to undergo IUI (intrauterine insemination) where my husband’s washed sperm was placed inside my uterus by catheter, that would not be approved since (both viable and nonviable) sperm could possibly die in the process of collection and washing.
Would natural conception (husband and wife making love) with medically enabled eggs be acceptable?
Katarinajellbeana…
Let me direct you here..
http://www.cin.org/vatcong/donumvit.html
http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Homiletic/Jan98/questions.html
http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/issues/nfp/treatment.htm
and may I suggest you look into the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction they have had great success in treating woman with PCOS ad helping them concieve.
I think who ever wrote this is closed minded. What about abortions. i know women that have abortions a couple of times a year and the childeren they do have they aren’t interested in them. I think if the government can provide assistance to help kill babies of via abortions why can’t the help people who pay for health insurance have a baby. I just think if you can give someone the opportuniy to do something as immoral as having an abortion why not help someone have a baby at least we know that these people really want a baby. I have a medical condition that makes it impossible to have kids without ivf and i have two friends with kids they never wanted, barely spend timewith and continously have abortions . One just had an abortion after 5 months i was horrified when i found out.They both recieve public asst . I am a college grad great job and a husband and i pay for health insurance that want cover my needs. But these women rely on the govt to pay for thier one night stand screw ups.
I think abortions should be addressed how many abortions is enough I know women who have had at least 9 and she is only 27 years old. And they were all paid for with public assistance. and the kids they do have are behavioral problems because the parents that were given this “GIFT” don’t care about thier future.
I think who ever wrote this is closed minded.
Well I gather your not Catholic.
Everything that has been written except for the 1st paragraph comes from Catholic CHurch Teachings
What about abortions.
What about them? They are murder.
i know women that have abortions a couple of times a year and the childeren they do have they aren’t interested in them.
They (the children are still a gift from God).
Shame that they are not interested in them and in this case I would advocate for adoption.
I think if the government can provide assistance to help kill babies of via abortions why can’t the help people who pay for health insurance have a baby.
Because murder is cheaper to them (government)
–I could go on and on in regards to your post. But I suggest you look at the links I provided in the OP and get back to me if you still feel that babies are a “right”!
Why is it considered “desperation” to use a proven, effective medical treatment such as IVF to address a medical problem? Funny, how it is often put into negative terms (usually by those who admittedly do not understand what dealing with infertility is like).
But, yes, sometimes when one has a serious medical condition and are dealing with a significant life crisis such as infertility, they can feel a bit “desperate” to address their medical problem, the longing for a child, and to try and create the life they had hoped for and planned for with their partner.
While I do consider the creation of life a beautiful miracle…it is no more a “gift” than being able to walk, talk or hear. I do consider it a “right” to be able to utilize normal, natural human bodily functions. A normal, healthy functioning human body should be able to walk, talk, breathe, and yes, reproduce. When one of those function is impaired by defect or disease, I don’t think it suddenly becomes a “gift” and something we do not have a natural “right” to. And choosing to utilize proven effective medical treatment for a medical problem is not some extreme thing involving one to “drive” themselves to “such desperate measures”.
And sorry, but no, IVF is not “killing babies”. If you CLEARLY understand human reproduction, it becomes quite clear that the process of procreation is complex, and more likely to not work, than to work in a given cycle. Embryos “die” in almost all attempts at conception, naturally or through assisted medical fertility treatments. If you believe that one should not attempt to conceive because [you] “…more than likely have killed the one thing that you “want” so badly.”, you should suggest that NO ONE attempt to conceive, since up to 75% of all conceptions fail and thus most attempts at even natural conception will result in this so-called “killing” of embryos. What is seen as “killing” by some, is really part of the normal, natural process that occurs with human embryos (where most embryos simply are not healthy enough to produce a viable pregnancy and they stop developing, or do so in an abnormal fashion that will not facilitate proper implantation) is an unavoidable part of human procreation.
And as for “Why”? Why indeed. Why would anyone risk such a thing in an attempt to procreate? Because it is a normal, natural, human desire. Why would anyone undergo medical treatment for any medical problem? To improve their quality of life, to stop the discomfort, and/or pain of their problem, etc… infertility patients are no different.
“The meer fact that your willing to stoop to IVF to get a child turns the whole thing into wanting something (object being the baby).” (‘Karin’ – Wife And Mom OF TWO -blog)
This comment really is insulting. To suggest that choosing to utilize a medical treatment is “stooping” to some -obvioulsy objectional- choice, is ignorant and disrespectful. Choosing to use IVF is not “stooping” to anything. It is making a choice to address a medical problem with one’s reproductive system with medical treatment.
And yes, people often do “want” to have a baby, build a family, procreate as their bodies are designed to do, to experience pregnancy and parenthood, but that does not make a child an “object” because someone might use medical treatment to help them fulfill that normal desire, that normal “want”. When is choosing to grow a family through -any means- not about ‘wanting’ something? “Fertile” people are also “wanting something” when they choose to try and conceive, infertile people are no different.
The “facts” presented in the article presented in your blog post are highly misleading (see my BLOG posting re: “Action Life” for specific examples from this very article).
FAITH-
Sorry that you suffer from infertility but children are a “gift” form God. They are not a right or anything else.
Sorry Faith,
Forgot to ask what exactly does IVF cure? It is not a treatment but a means to make a baby that goes against God’s will….oh wait your from Canada that explains it!
What does a cochlear implant hearing aid “cure”? Nothing, but it enables the wearer to hear when we can’t fix the hearing loss, and it is a medical treatment. Do you think that hearing is a “gift” and not a right, so therefore people should not dare use a cochlear implant, they have no “right” if they are not given the “gift” of hearing by God? Do cochlear implants go “against God’s will”? They must – by your “logic”.
IVF is a medical treatment that bypasses the “broken” part of reproductive system to enable the reproductive function to be achieved by bypassing the problem area. Just as a cochlear implant can’t fix the actual hearing problem, but rather compensates by by-passing the broken system and restoring the bodily function as best it can. IVF is indeed medical treatment.
I am not sure what my being from Canada has to do with it. I hope you are making a joke and not being disparaging.
So now hearing loss is being equated with IVF?
IVF is a medical procedure that bypasses lots of things most importantly it bypasses how God wanted us to produce children, it has made children a commodity instead of a “gift”….
Okay. This is how my life is going. I have no infertility problems. I do, however, have a 50% (each syndrome) of handing down two diseases to my children. First, Gardner’s Syndrome (which I need to have my entire large intestines out for) and Accoustic Neuroma (deadly brain tumor). I am going to be a mother someday. Do you think I want that kind of future for my children? NO way on earth. I plan on going through Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis to have my children. (PGD) is a variant of IVF. It picks the embryos with one or both of the diseases and discards them. Yeah that’s right, throws them out. And you know why? Because I’d rather them die at that stage then to have to suffer with what my family has gone through. I’ve lost so many family members to those diseases. It would be IMMORAL to be so careless as to let them live. And really, it makes you upset that I can do just that. Throw them out. You can tell me what you want but this is my body. Mine. I’ll do what I please with it. I was once a so called “devout Catholic”. I did everything you are now doing. It wasnt right for me to judge others. I have no problem with homosexuals, single parents, fertility drugs (to help people have healthy babies but not to pick the child’s hair and eye color I mean.) As long as people are not hurting others then who cares?? And dont try that “hurting others includes your children.” because thats not the case. I wont be hurting my children. I will be saving them. From a lifetime of pain. And to tell you the truth, I feel pretty damn good about it.
Nicole…
you are planning on murdering your children, but I guess in your book that is ok?!?
WOW!
I just stumbled upon this article, so this topic is completely new to me, and quite interesting. But I believe there is a huge point that has been overlooked in this argument by both views. What is being overlooked is basically FAITH in God’s ultimate power and control, and the bigger perspective.
Certainly a child IS a gift from God–true. And God has all the power to gift a life or not, in any and every instance. I don’t care how much technology we have, a doctor or scientist cannot place the human spirit into the embryo, whether in the test tube or into a mother’s womb. It is not the scientist that is controlling God by dictating where and when life occurs. That gift is God’s own choice, and His alone. Sure, God has given us free agency to make our own personal choices, but we are not able to make things possible that are not already possible per His plan. In any successful conception of life, no matter how long or short that spirit lives, no matter where it occurs, that little spirit life is still gifted and sent to Earth into the embryo body by our ever-loving and ever-powerful God, whether the life takes and develops further or not. That spirit came to serve a pupose; a divine purpose (which we all have as well). If it wasn’t okay by God, the conception wouldn’t be possible. All credit for creation is God’s, and He obviously allows and approves of science progressing forward in this kind of work, or He wouldn’t send any new spirits to Earth by that means.
As for the losses of those embryos that don’t make it–I agree that is sad. I would never condone discarding pre-born babies or abortion that is not needed to save a mother’s life. I hope that eventually there will be ways to help parents concieve that are even more advanced, precise, and humane. I would guess those spirits who come in such a case of momentarily experiencing a start but without a real chance for life, are God’s noble spirit children who have agreed and maybe even volunteered to serve in that way. You can mourn those spirits as you might mourn the endless number of lives lost throughout the world’s history from violence and death since the beginning of time. Maybe those spirits are spared their earthly lives for good reason. The question of why God allows such violence and evil to occur in the world, as continually documented throughout the bible and still in current times, and even in His divine plan of the Lord’s atonement, most of us are not privy to understand yet.
I prefer to focus gratefully on the miracles of life and the goodness around us. And every new infant I see arrive in this world, I consider a miraculous blessing from God no matter how their conception occurred. I hope and pray for each precious child that he or she is placed in a safe and emotionally healthy home with loving parents. All the rest is really none of my business.