A Catholic View: In-Vitro Fertilization, the Human Cost

Pope Benedict XVI, speaking to members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, addressed the
issue of married couples struggling with infertility. He said, “The Church pays great attention to
the suffering of couples with infertility, she cares for them and, precisely because of this,
encourages medical research.”

But he warned against “the lure of the technology of artificial insemination,” which is not
permitted by Catholic teaching. The Pope said to couples unable to conceive: “[Your]
vocation to marriage is no less because of this. Spouses, for their own baptismal and marriage
vocation, are called to cooperate with God in the creation of a new humanity. The vocation to
love, in fact, is a vocation to the gift of self and this is a possibility that no organic condition can
prevent. There, where science has not yet found an answer, the answer that gives light comes
from Christ.”

Catholic teaching prohibits in vitro fertilization, maintaining that a child has the right to be
conceived in the marital embrace of his parents. Human sexuality has two components, the
unitive and procreative; IVF separates these components and makes the procreative its only
goal. Pope Paul VI said 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.”

There are other issues involved. IVF makes the child a commodity produced in a laboratory, and
makes doctors, technicians, and even businesspeople part of the conception process. The
sperm used is usually obtained by masturbation, which the Church teaches is immoral. The
sperm or eggs used may not come from the couple desiring the child; because one of the
spouses may be infertile, it may be necessary to use the sperm or eggs from an outsider. Most
of the embryos conceived—which the Church holds should be respected new human lives—die,
are frozen indefinitely for later implantation, are used for research, or are discarded. Children
conceived through IVF also have a greater incidence of birth defects.

The bottom line is that the Church views the child as a gift from God, not a right (although the
child has rights).

WHAT IS THE HUMAN COST OF IVF?

Source: Excerpt by Arland Nichols | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 8/28/12 1:49 PM

It can be difficult initially to understand why the Church opposes procedures such as in vitro
fertilization (IVF). The Church teaches that children are the “crowning glory” of marriage. “Why
oppose something that allows couples to bring new babies into the world?”

Because one in seven couples suffers from infertility or subfertility, Church teaching about IVF often
leads to such genuine questions that deserve to be answered with love in truth. For many, the
Church’s teaching is difficult to bear because the desire to have children is so natural and strong.
To turn minds and hearts, it must first be emphasized that the Church does not condemn persons
created by technical procedure, even as we are strongly opposed to the technical procedure itself.
Those born following in vitro fertilization possess dignity and are made in God’s image and likeness.
Each person is a unique and unrepeatable spoken word of God, never to be spoken again. Offering
qualified affirmation often opens minds and softens hearts: “I hope you may one day be a
grandmother, and I imagine we agree that how you become a grandmother is very important.”

Such a disarming opening salvo establishes a point of agreement and provides an opportunity to
explain how, often contrary to the best intentions of the parents, IVF involves the death of the very
children a couple desires.

During the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology this
July, it was announced that five million babies have been born following in vitro fertilization
procedures since 1978. Today, approximately 350,000 IVF babies are born annually, and the
numbers are increasing.

An eerie silence hangs over these numbers. Unspoken is that most human beings created in the
laboratory will die before even given a chance. It is commonly estimated that only one in six embryos
created following IVF will make it to birth. However, the numbers published by Britain’s Human
Fertilization and Embryology Authority may be more accurate. In July of 2011 Britain announced that
for every child born by IVF thirty embryos were created.

This means that for a typical couple seeking IVF, somewhere between five and thirty of their children
died so they could give birth to one. On a world-wide scale, this means that 30-150 million children
have died because of IVF. In light of such staggering numbers the Church’s teaching makes perfect
sense; it is “deeply disturbing” that “the number of embryos sacrificed is extremely high” (Dignitas
personae n. 14). At best, IVF is like playing Russian Roulette with six people except only one
chamber of the gun is empty. IVF treats the new human being as little more than a cluster of cells to
be graded, selected, and discarded. As the Church has noted, “in other areas of medicine, ordinary
professional ethics and the health care authorities themselves, would never allow a medical
procedure which involved such a high number of failures and fatalities” (Dignitas personae n. 15).

Unfortunately, such a loss of life is ignored and accepted by the IVF industry. Such “failures and
fatalities” are not even recognized for what they are by most physicians who do IVF—it has all
become a normal and standardized aspect of the procedure. Further, the beautiful images of babies,
slogans about “building families,” and the pristine walls of the typical fertility clinic hide this harsh
reality from would-be parents.

The truth, and the gentle yet firm guidance of a priest, recently led a leading IVF doctor in Chicago,
Anthony Caruso, to call it quits. As a July 30 Chicago Tribune article attests, “We see babies in our
Catholic faith as children of God. …What doesn’t get thought about is the process that brought the
babies to be.” Over time Dr. Caruso came to recognize that regardless of the best intentions, the
process of in vitro fertilization is a “false and deceptive solution” and an alarming attack on life. He is
grateful to his parish priest for his courage to share the Church’s teaching concerning the industry
that Caruso had been involved in for years. He now dedicates his professional life to promoting
solutions to infertility that are consonant with Church teaching.

Sharing:

Brothers and Sisters, I have witnessed a couple who have undergone with this kind of
procedure, In-Vitro fertilization. They have been married for over 10 years. They have been so
desperate to have a baby and to experience to be parents. I advised them to why not try to
undergo with this kind of fertilization process because I shared with them this one couple who
have undergone with this procedure and they got triplets babies.

This couple talked about this and they consulted a doctor who is expertise in this procedure.
They started to undergo with some test and some medicine to take. In first month of this
procedure- blood test have been done almost every week and some pills to take that can
fertilize their eggs and sperms cells. They were informed that they have to pay of almost
$20,000 CAD.

While they were doing the preparations, I have read the articles about the In-Vitro fertilization
that is NOT pleasing God to undergo with this, and it is a SIN. I could not stop them anymore
because I was the one who advised them! What I did was: I prayed and asked for forgiveness
that I advised them the wrong way of obtaining their dreams to have a baby. I did not bother to
talk to them as I wanted them to focus with that procedure. Instead, I prayed to them, “Your
Will Be Done Lord, I was innocent. Didn’t know that it was a sin!”

I could not sleep sometimes with my conscience bothering me. Until one day, the lady talked to
me and said, Ate Nida, it did not work with us because there was no much sperms that they
could not get from me. The doctor had frankly told her that they no chance for them to have a
baby anymore. So devastating feeling for them. They are CFC members as well. I praised and
thanked God that it did not work otherwise, my conscience will bother me in my entire life. The
lady is my officemate.

Few months later, the lady asked a permission from me that she would visit her family doctor
because there were some unusual feeling that she could not understand. She was delayed for
her monthly period for almost 4 months, but was just ignoring it as she was aware with the
statement of the doctor that she wouldn’t get pregnant. It was almost then the start of “Simbang
Gabi” here in our parish, Annunciation Church. After some test, he family doctor called her and
said that it was positive! they would have baby!!!! Now, after the baby’s birth, we call the baby a
“miracle baby”! She is now more than a year old.

The bottom line was, the Lord did not allow them to commit sin, but He gave their heart desire
without committing a sin aside from saving a lot of money for that In-vitro procedure.

Discussion Starter:

1. Knowing that IVF is basically an attack on human life, what can you do to prevent it?
 2. What other pro-life issues needs to be taken up and discussed in our community?

Prepared by Nida Figueroa

CFC-GOL Teaching 2020