Is there a moral goodness in In vitro fertilization?

score:10

Accepted answer

It is a good when a new person comes into existence; God still creates a rational soul out of nothing even for those conceived as a result of sin.

But it is never moral to use evil means

  • in the case of IVF:
    • depriving a child of his or her right to be conceived in an act of marital love
    • masturbation to obtain s*m*n
    • killing many people by subjecting them to harsh living conditions (Petri dish) when their proper place for their age is in a woman's womb
      A high fraction of those conceived with IVF do not survive because of the harsh living conditions, so many ova have to be fertilized for there to be a chance of one surviving long enough to be implanted in the woman's womb.

to achieve a good end:

  • bringing a new life into existence.

The authoritative Magisterial source on IVF is Donum Vitae, a 1987 document from the CDF. It says that even if masturbation and grave danger to the life of the embryo could be avoided, IVF is still intrinsically immoral because it deprives the child of his God-given right to be procreated in an act of marital love. Look at section A.1, โ€œWhy must human procreation take place in a marriage?โ€

For more information on this, see the discussion on IVF in Health Care Ethics: A Theological Analysis by Benedict Ashley, O.P.
("Artificial Human Reproduction" on p. 86 of the PDF or ยง9.2 "Reproductive Technologies" of the EPUB)

There are moral, more successful alternatives to IVF, such as Dr. Hilger's NaProTECHNOLOGY. You can find a NaPro doctor here. See also The NaProTechnology Revolution: Unleashing the Power in a Woman's Cycle and associated website.

Upvote:3

It's worth noting that even though IVF is a bad thing, this has no spiritual implications for people conceived in such a way. God is a master of making lemonade from lemons (Romans 8:28).

In fact, if you trace the genealogies of Jesus, you'll find that in the genealogy according to Matthew, Jesus is said to be descended from Solomon, and in the genealogy according to Luke, Jesus is said to be descended from Nathan. Both are probably true, but in either case, Jesus would be descended from David and Bathsheba, the couple that should have never been a thing. Lust, adultery and murder all went into that union but out of it eventually came Jesus.

The message is that regardless of your history, ancestory, conception, the kinds of things that people focus on and worry about, God has great things planned for you.

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