IVF, or in-vitro fertilization, was invented in the 1970s and is termed an “assisted reproductive technology.” This procedure involves the acquisition of human male sperm and female eggs which are then artificially fused in a lab to create living human embryos. Typically, multiple of these embryonic humans are then implanted into a woman’s womb (sometimes a surrogate mother), typically resulting in a pregnancy of twins, triplets, or even quadruplets. This is done to maximize the chances that at least one of the children implants correctly and begins healthy growth in order to be carried to term. The rest of that child’s siblings are then usually “selectively reduced” via abortion.
The Catholic Church officially and explicitly condemns IVF as a practice that is inherently “contrary to the unity of marriage … and to the child’s right to be conceived and brought into the world in marriage and from marriage” (Donum Vitae 36), and is always morally impermissible. In other words, IVF takes the creation of children out of its correct place as an act of love and cooperation between a married couple and God, replacing the marital act and God’s gift of life with an artificial, clinical procedure. Moreover, children have the right to be created through their own parents’ act of love, grow in their mother’s womb, and be raised by their biological parents. IVF subverts the natural course of procreation by which children are entitled to be brought into life. That brings us to several problematic “side-effects” of IVF. Firstly, the collection of sperm is usually done through the utilization of masturbation, which the Church states is a gravely immoral act, even in order to obtain a “good” thing, in this case the creation of a child (the ends do not justify the means). Secondly, as previously mentioned, the “leftover” human embryos that are not chosen for implantation in the womb are sentenced to being frozen indefinitely, donated for inhumane research and experimentation, or killed. Thirdly, the “extra” embryos that were implanted who aren’t chosen to be “kept” and carried to term are aborted, which amounts to homicide and is grievously wrong (both from a secular and Catholic standpoint). In both the second and third cases, there is also much room for unjust discrimination, such as choosing only the most genetically “fit” embryos to survive (a eugenics mindset) or deciding which siblings to abort based on arbitrary characteristics such as their health conditions, sex, and so on (promoting bias). Additionally, IVF violates the dignity of the human person by treating children as marketable objects to be produced, bought, sold, and even destroyed on demand.
Going further, we must examine other potential ramifications of IVF in society. As technology advancement allows us to discern more and more information from genetic testing, the temptation will increasingly grow to pick between which artificially-created babies we prefer, or even “custom design” them, as if choosing which product we like most on the shelf. This is not only incredibly dehumanizing, but sets dangerous precedents for how we are allowed to treat human beings in the future.
This all being said, the Catholic Church understands the genuine struggle of couples who are infertile and deeply long to have children, which is a worthy and naturally good desire. We must be compassionate toward people who bear the great burden of infertility and walk with them through their pain and struggles. However, that does not mean that anyone is ever owed a child or that every type of attempt to have children is moral. For example, stealing someone else’s baby or tricking someone into being impregnated are not permissible means of achieving the desire and good end of having a child or being a parent. It may provide hope to explain that there are alternative methods of assisted procreation that are morally licit. For example, procedures that assist the marital act but don’t replace it (such as NaProTechnology) as well as strategies to enhance natural fertility or timing of conception (such as Natural Family Planning), are permissible. Likewise, just because our Catholic faith opposes the IVF method of conceiving does not mean it denounces those people who were conceived through that circumstance. Just as we can condemn rape and fornication and simultaneously love people who were created through those reprehensible acts, so too can we condemn IVF while still embracing as children of God every human being who was brought into this world by it.
Key takeaway: We must entreat—nay, demand—that those at the helm of scientific investigation slow down in their ever-progressing pursuits to question whether just because we can do something, does that mean we should? In the case of IVF, our Church declares a definitive NO.
Liana Winans is a lifelong Bostonian studying Biology as a freshman in MCAS. While not working on Torch articles or practicing pro-life apologetics, she will often be found playing basketball in the Rec, reading at the Res, playing piano, or watching old action movies. Her go-to prayer is the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
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