Is donor insemination a moral act?

Apex said:

I like to ask the question, will this action harm my relationship with either God or my neighbor?

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Interestingly, I was reading through Mark right now and found a similar question coming from the lips of Jesus. It seems I am on the right path.

Mark 3:4
And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?"

LinkH said:

The Bible indicates it is undesirable to be a bastard.

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Why do you think this was? I think this largely was due to land and property inheritance laws.

1213 said:

Basically, it is inseminating neighbor’s wife.

But yes, I understand it can be interpreted by other ways also. That is why I said “in my opinion”.

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I interpret adultery as any act of marital infidelity.

I once met a married couple who were into swinging. They didn't think what they were doing was adultery because they did not see their behavior as being unfaithful. Nothing was kept secret and both agreed to the terms. Would you say they are still guilty of adultery?

LinkH said:

It is immoral to produce children with another man's wife. It is immoral for a man to donate sperm to produce a child that he knows he will not raise and does not intend to raise.

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Let's discuss the biblical references. Where would you like to start?

Open Heart said:

Artificial insemination crosses a moral line because it uses masturbation as part of its process. It also violates the connection of sex-bonding-procreation-pleasure that God intends. It basically has crossed the line from medicine into Frankensteinian science. As a society, we do it because we can, without thinking about whether we should.

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Can we look at the biblical references you have in mind? I would like to discuss them.

Open Heart said:

There are multiple places in the NT where inappropriate contenteia is forbidden.

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Okay, we can start here.

I think the common English translation "sexual immorality" for the Greek word πορνεία is fair. However, it is devoid of context. How do we determine what is sexually moral or sexually immoral?

I determine morality by filtering my actions through the Law of Christ: love God; love others. I see all unloving or harmful sexual activity as πορνεία. This is why we typically see it used for sex used in pagan/idol rituals. This is unloving to God.

Do you consider donor insemination, for a couple who is infertile, unloving?

Open Heart said:

Sex between a husband and a test tube is inappropriate contenteia.

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It is apparent we define "sex" differently. However, I do not wish to go down another semantic dead end. Thanks for adding your opinion.

prodromos said:

Sperm donation is fraught with serious moral and biological issues due to children born of sperm donation potentially meeting and marrying one of their siblings.

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I disagree with that reasoning. This is true for the many adopted children and no one claims that adoption is immoral on those grounds. Besides all that, this goes into another topic on whether incest is innately immoral. For example, Abraham married his half-sister. Was this immoral of them?

ubicaritas said:

traditionally , most Christian churches would say no because it separates sex from reproduction. I also think children should be ideally the product of two biological parents who will live with them and raise them as a family.

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Jesus' conception was separated from sex. He also was not the product of two biological parents.

Hank77 said:

What are you referring to, please. Thanks

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Deuteronomy 25:5-10