How does IVF separate sex from procreation?
An IVF pregnancy is achieved through the removal of some of a woman’s eggs, collected by inducing what is called “superovulation,” where a drug is administered so the woman releases multiple eggs in one cycle. The eggs are combined with a man’s sperm retrieved through masturbation.
Ultimately, IVF involves the use of artificial means to achieve pregnancy outside of the marriage act. The Church holds that this disassociation is contrary to the dignity of parents and children.
Donum Vitae says that because conception through IVF is “brought about outside the bodies of the couple through actions of third parties,” such fertilization “entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.”
“Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the human person,” Donum Vitae teaches.
How are children harmed through IVF?
During the IVF process, multiple human embryos are made and then evaluated in a “grading” process that determines their cellular “quality.” There are multiple grading methods that IVF providers use to examine embryos with an eye for which may be the most suitable for implantation into the uterus.
Almost half of the human embryos created through IVF are “discarded” during the process, according to the Center for Genetics and Society. This has led to millions of human embryos being discarded, something that in the Church’s eyes amounts to the killing of millions of innocent lives.
Additionally, the use of IVF has resulted in a surplus of an estimated 1 million human embryos being kept frozen in laboratories across the country where they are often stored indefinitely or destroyed in embryonic scientific research.
Aren’t more children good?
The Church supports a couple’s desire for children. The problem arises when that desire leads couples to seek children by any means.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
John Di Camillo, an ethicist at The National Catholic Bioethics Center, explained to CNA that “we cannot do evil that good may come.”
“The Church teaches that children have a right to be conceived, gestated, born, and raised within marriage,” he said. “Each human person is in the image and likeness of God, made by God — a body-soul unity of infinite value to be welcomed, loved, and cherished rather than forcibly produced.”
What are the alternatives to IVF for Catholics?
The Catechism (Paragraph 2375) teaches that “research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged.”
According to Donum Vitae, fertility treatments meant to replace the marriage act are morally wrong while those meant to assist it in conceiving life may be permitted.
Methods such as Natural Procreative Technology (NaPro Technology), that focus on treating the underlying bodily or hormonal issues causing infertility rather than attempting to skirt around them, are considered morally licit by the Church.
Credit: Source link
