Comments on: In-Vitro Fertilization

By: Donald

Donald — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:47:36 +0000

“Scripture does not specifically address in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy per se.”

Is that not the same reasoning liberals minded Christian use to justify certain sins these days? Ahh but does not this get addressed when it is said the Lord is the one who opens and closes the womb? We don’t know why the Lord chooses that some not have children naturally however we must believe it is for His glory and for the true believer…for their good also. Does it not start from a selfish motive to even consider in vitro…the initial thought is “I can’t and I want” are they not? It’s amazing what Christians try to justify these days (but I venture to say if the US economy were not so great and we didn’t have all the “luxuries” we have here…we would not consider man’s attempts at playing God).

By: John

John — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:19:24 +0000

I agree with every point except part of #8:

>For this reason, we believe that Christians
>should not use methods that employ donated eggs
>or sperm from a third party.

Somebody explain to me how this practice is different from Christian adoption. My wife’s egss were unable to produce children. We had donated eggs. The donator had several children of her own, and while staying anonymous is aware of our situaton and agreed to help.

We now have a wonderful Christian child, growing up in a Christian home. To state the obvious, of course I don’t know how she’ll turn out.

To deny invetro to a Christian couple that wants to have children, including the option of donating eggs, would be like saying to a cripple, you can’t have artificial limbs as it is not how God intended it to be, and look how you could accidently hurt yourself with those artificial limbs. In #7, you use “Hagar” as an example. You could use that same Hagar example to argue against adoption of any kind. Doesn’t work.

By: Bindu

Bindu — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 15:45:07 +0000

I could see the basis for most of your statements. However, I had difficulty understanding your reasoning for the disposition of cyropreserved eggs. Why exactly should they not be destroyed? And why did you not include the disposition of sperm if you think eggs should never be destroyed? They are no more valuable than sperm, and in the female body, they are naturally destroyed if they are not fertilized…what about being frozen unfertilized egg makes its disposition any different?

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:47:29 +0000

#8 may need some more careful nuancing. The underlying principle stated there could be used to forbid adoption, which is in essence looking for donated sperms and eggs, the major difference being the awareness of the adoptive parents at the time of conception.

By: jenny gillan

jenny gillan — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 05:09:45 +0000

This is a helpful article addressing a difficult subject. What about the fact that while limiting the number of embryos implanted deals with the difficulty of the destruction of embryos, it still means that there is an increased risk of premature birth and therefore birth defects? While I have read that this increased risk is similar to that of naturally conceived multiples, is there any difficulty in making an active choice in this regard?

By: Mark La Roi

Mark La Roi — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 02:18:42 +0000

Thanks for an excellent look into a tough issue.

By: sarah

sarah — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:11:02 +0000

Thank you, Connie, for your testimony! There are many children who long to have a home and a family who love them. Adoption is also another avenue in which we can spread the Gospel. By adopting potentially “lost children of society”, we give them a Christian home to be raised in and can potentially add to the next generation more grounded Christians. Although these children would become Christians anyway even if they are not adopted (if they are chosen), it is just another way in which we can obey His command to spread the Gospel and give to others.

By: connie

connie — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:48:04 +0000

Ooops! That should read, “give me children OR I die”.

By: connie

connie — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:35:17 +0000

Thank you for this! As one who has wrestled with this very issue, I think your post will prove to be of GREAT value for many Christian couples longing to have children.

By God’s providence my womb is closed–I am barren. I’ve been married 24 yrs. and spent 19 of those childless. Through this trial God has taught me so much about His sovereignty–difficult lessons, but priceless and precious lessons!

When it became clear that conception would not be a “given” for us, we considered the options available and determined which (if any) we could support/attempt in good conscience before God. I’m so glad we did that because the intense emotion of the struggle and medical process(es) are often very overwhelming–often leading to a “give me children of I die” mentality. This is especially true in our ever-increasing culture of pragmatism.

Finally, in reference to point #10 of your post, I rejoice that by God’s providence we are now a family of four! I am the delighted mother of two teenage daughters–through international adoption. And, as you might imagine God continues to teach me(us) MUCH about Himself through adoption!!