One of the search phrases that lead people to my blog is the phrase, “Can IVF be forgiven?” I find this an interesting phrase and it’s a complex scenario. What I find very sad in this question is that someone must feel that this cannot be forgiven; which tells me, they also feel that IVF is wrong in some way. Before I answer the question, “Can IVF be forgiven,” let’s discuss IVF and the Catholic faith.
Catholic’s are pro-life and therefore, people will assume that anything that brings forth life would be permissible within the Catholic faith. While Catholic’s are definitely pro-life, they are pro-natural. When discussing IVF only, this is a reproductive technology that is considered intrinsically evil. Speaking of Catholic bioethics, something can not be rendered good if it comes through evil means. Why then is IVF a sin?
IVF is dangerous
IVF creates children in test tubes. We know this because the scientific community states that life begins at conception. Because life begins at conception, as soon as the sperm and egg unite, a child is created. A recent Supreme Court ruling in Alabama stated as much and this is related to abortion because if an embryo is deemed a child, access to killing these children through abortion or embryo destruction is threatened.
There are many risks to the woman when she begins IVF treatments and I will not discuss them here but they can be found here as well as the risks to the baby that I am about to discuss. Birth defects including issues with sex hormones (X and Y) are higher among babies conceived via IVF.
Children conceived via IVF suffer from mental health issues more than children conceived spontaneously. There is a higher risk of stillbirth, prematurity, and preeclampsia. There is also a higher risk of c-section birth which in and of itself has more complications for both mother and baby. Women have been impregnated with the wrong baby and of course many babies are killed in the process of IVF. IVF kills 30 children for every one that survives. Spontaneous conceptions come with less risk to both mother and baby.
Another problem is that women idolize having a baby; which is also sinful and women compartmentalize the risks to themselves. Any baby with a defect is discarded. The other risks are suppressed in order to gain their prize, aka baby. If a woman is older (above 40 and sometimes as young as age 35), the fertility industry presses her to use donor eggs. IVF is so complicated and becomes even more complicated with divorce. This article shares how IVF complicates child custody.
IVF requires both abortion and child trafficking…
There are serious concerns with donor anonymity Children want to know their biological parents. Do they not have a right to their biological parents? Adoption even causes higher risk of depression.
A new term I learned is “social father.” This is the term used by some children of IVF to describe the father that raised them but isn’t their biological father. The woman who wrote that article calls her “entire existence a lie.” How must her father feel now, especially since he is called her social father instead of just father.
In searching for a blog/support group I once found for IVF children who were upset about their parents using IVF to create them, I came across this article by a woman who used IVF but would never use it again because of the dangers. She firmly believes that the medical community, aka fertility industry, preys on desperate women, and she’s correct. There are so few articles that truly discuss the dangers to women. I searched for hours to find the blog from IVF children (having never found it) and only came across one article decrying IVF. It seems the Alabama case has pushed all other IVF searches to the bottom.
However, I did find some. This website shares stories from children born via third-party reproduction. They are being silenced. Here is another article where this child wishes she had never been born. And then this one about identity being stolen.
You might say, well, these are all children from donor sperm/egg; we are married and our child will be from our own sperm and egg. It’s immoral. Don’t do it. To use IVF deprives a child of their dignity and violates their rights. A child that is found “defective” is eliminated.
IVF should be outlawed
IVF is dangerous in many ways. It needs to be outlawed but it’s a very profitable business. I disagree with Elizabeth Carr – the first baby born via IVF when she says, “IVF is the single most effective assistive reproductive technology.” She claims to feel like an endangered species. I also take offense to her statement in the same article.
“No one understands better than the infertility community that embryos are not children. Success in IVF means bringing home a baby, not solely creating embryos.” – Elizabeth Carr
Elizabeth Carr’s statement is purely her opinion and she doesn’t speak for me (part of the infertility community). The scientific community is firm that life begins at conception. Her statement invalidates every woman who suffers a miscarriage or stillbirth after their IVF treatment solely because they didn’t bring home a living child. Those families in Alabama who sued after the destruction of their children (aka embryos) disagree with you! All of my embryos were my children! Some of them died. How many of your siblings died or were killed because of your parents idolatry to bring you home? The only reason for such an ignorant statement is to numb herself to the tragedy which IVF has become…the trafficking and exploitation of tiny humans. She doesn’t even mention the exploitation of women who are told they have no other choice by IVF.
I would like Ms. Carr to research and discuss NaPro Technology. I understand she is an advocate for IVF considering that’s how she was created but not all IVF created children are happy or support IVF. Some feel exploited by their parents and treated like a commodity but their stories and experiences are suppressed because it doesn’t go with the narrative that “IVF is the best treatment” out there.
NaPro Technology
NaPro Technology has better success rates than IVF yet IVF is touted as the superior form of reproductive technology. This technology, on the other hand, doesn’t come with abortion and human trafficking. It allows for treatment of the underlying conditions which gives every cycle a chance of conception rather than one-cycle per IVF treatment.
Look at these success rates!
Napro success with endometriosis is up to 76% vs. IVF 21%, with PCOS is up to 80% vs. IVF 25.6%, and with Tubal occlusion 38% vs. IVF 27%
IVF is very expensive. IVF also leads to C-sections, which are also expensive and increases morbidity and mortality for both mom and baby. We hear often “follow the money.” Much money is made in this human trafficking business. Even the surrogates make significant money using their bodies as human incubators for someone who wants a baby. Anyone…not just married couples who are unable to conceive. Random people make money giving their eggs and sperm to facilities for anyone to use. It’s poisoning our human community. Twins, half-siblings, cousins, etc finding love with each other not realizing they are related. This person found out he had 600 half-siblings!
I believe I have established that IVF is evil and causes many problems. It’s dangerous for mother and baby. It’s dangerous for us as humans but it’s a money maker and people who talk against it are silenced. Now I will return to the original question.
Can IVF be forgiven?
If you are asking, “can IVF be forgiven,” you must know it’s wrong. We have established that IVF requires the destruction of embryos (abortion). Women who utilize abortion are excommunicated from the Catholic Church. God can forgive abortion and God can forgive the use of IVF but you have to be sorry for it and then you have to confess it. You also need a priest to lift the excommunication.
It is also important to understand that you cannot use IVF knowing that you will be forgiven because that’s not being sorry for it. Be sorry for not trusting in God’s plan for you. There is no way of knowing if God would have granted you a child later in life. You do not know His plan for you but He does want your full submission and trust in Him. Go to confession!
I will end with this excerpt from 15 Mortal Sins Catholics are Missing in Their Confessions by Catholic priest and hermit Father David Nix:
“IVF requires you to sacrifice about 20 of your own children via both “embryo reduction” and “freezing” to get about two of them born. Thus, IVF is literally murdering and freezing many of your children to get a few born for yourself. God can quickly forgive the murder of children. If even a priest as intense as me will not scream at anyone in the confessional for this sin, then neither will any priest out there. Just confess it, even if you didn’t know it.”
God can forgive IVF.