- Feb 5, 2002
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It's not like they are cute and cuddly.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
In IVF is Not the Way (Sophia Institute Press, May 2025) I finally got the chance to flesh out an idea I have had ever since I had a miscarriage—the idea of loving an embryo. This was one of the times when my faith and science clashed hard in conflict. It also was a time when philosophy helped make sense of things.Just a “Chemical Pregnancy”
The scenario I am about to describe happens to a lot of Catholic women. If you’re not Catholic, just try to see it through our eyes. Our faith informs us univocally that children are the supreme gifts of marriage to be respected as persons:Donum vitae is an instruction on the respect for human life in its origin that was issued in 1987 in response to the rise of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), namely in vitro fertilization (IVF). To the question of what respect is due to the human embryo, taking into account his nature and identity, the answer is concise:A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The “supreme gift of marriage” is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged “right to a child” would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right “to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents,” and “the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception.”
(CCC 2378; Citing Donum vitae, II.8)
Continued below.