Ethical Question Regarding IVF

K9_Trainer said:

I'm not the biggest fan of IVF. I obviously cannot speak on behalf of Christian morality when it comes to IVF, but in my personal opinion, I think it's a huge waste of money. I don't see anything wrong with the procedure itself, but I will probably never understand why and the motives for doing it. There are thousands and thousands of unwanted kids in the world that need to be adopted...And couples are willing to pay 5 digit numbers and go through invasive procedures and emotional turmoil just to have a kid that is "their own"? It just seems so self centered and emotionally based.

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Sketcher said:

I'm not going to say it's sinful, but I can't say that choosing IVF over adoption is right. If a couple can't have kids together and they want kids, then it just might be God telling them that they should adopt. There are after all, plenty of kids who need it.

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lafillecherie said:

Be careful about labelling something as a Christian belief when Scripture is silent on the issue.

It could just as easily be argued that God placed that couple in a time and place and provided them with the money so they *could* go the IVF route.

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PandaBeast said:

Can't speak for the UK, but in the US there actually aren't many children available for adoption. Very few children in the foster care system are actually adoptable, as their parents still have intact rights and are trying to get their children back through the court system. I would imagine the situation in most western countries is pretty much the same.

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SpiritualAntiseptic said:

It is all part of the problem in our way of thinking - the way we exploit sexuality and human persons.

We abort babies and then produce people in test tubes outside an act of love because there are not babies to be had. It dehumanizes society and corrupts our understanding of sexuality. The problem with our society is that we put freedom above all things and we demand getting things our way with instant gratification.

To put sperm and eggs together, freeze them, implant them, give them away to other people or destroying them is treating them as commodities. These are real people, with a unique identity.

Sex is a gift from God. The gift should be freely received and given to others with respect for its purpose and the gifts that go along with it. The sad part about society is that we don't even see it as a gift, it is has been reduced to a need, a biological urge to be satisfied and something to play with to produce children.

Couples should emulate the Trinity. From Adam came Eve, who looked upon her and saw himself and loved his own flesh. From the Father came the Son, who looked upon Him and Himself, the Word, and loved the person who shared His essence. The love of the Father and Son was so great that they wanted to make it more complete by revealing it fully to another person and from their shared substance, came the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit could love the other two and also share and enjoy the love between the Father and Son. Thus, love was perfected in the Trinity.

Men and women can look onto each other and share their bodies to produce another person out of that love. Like the Holy Spirit, the child comes from them out of love. IVF is sinful in this since that like all sin, it looks to do something good but it produces good in error or produces evil in trying to do good.

God wants us to share and come close to that perfect love that exists in the Trinity.

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K9_Trainer said:

Interesting thoughts, but it sounds like the author is ignoring the science behind conception and making sex as a means of conception overly sentimental. Whether conceived in the womb or in a petre dish, the same process is involved. Egg and sperm meet, blastocyst develops, it is implanted in the uterus and grows into a child.

I don't think removing sex from conception is going to change how parents' view or love their child. Actually, I'd say that view could almost be considered insulting. What if a woman is raped? That child is not conceived in a loving, marital "embrace". It doesn't mean that child cannot be loved and valued by the mother/parents. And nobody wants a disabled child, we all want healthy babies, but we love them no matter how they come out.

Anyway, I don't mean to imply that sex isn't sentimental and special. It is. But I don't think a child conceived in a different way is somehow magically viewed differently because it wasn't conceived during a loving, sexual encounter between two people who love each other.

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Touma said:

Is it a sin for a Christian man to donate his sperm to a woman who is not his wife, in a non sexual manner, so that she can get pregnant?

Why? Why not?

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