Is IVF A False Hope?

Almost every married couple dreams of their love culminating in pregnancy and the birth of a child. To many this gift of a bringing forth a child is an easy process but there are also those couples who struggle with the heart-wrenching experience of infertility…and what a struggle it is.

The Catholic Church has always been concerned with infertility and the devastating effect it has on so many married couples who yearn for the beautiful gift of a child. Infertility is not a disease. Rather, it is a symptom of some other issue with the couple trying to have a baby. The issue may be with the husband, the wife or the combination of both parents. For this reason the church has supported and endorsed the most modern research in finding the causes of infertility and treating them. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is the combining of a woman’s eggs with a man’s sperm outside the body in a laboratory. Once an embryo (fertilised egg) is formed it is then placed in the woman’s uterus with the hope that the pregnancy goes its full term. In as much as the Catholic Church has endorsed research to reduce infertility in both men and women she also recognises that not all techniques are in the best interest of the mother, father and child. A key factor that is somewhat understated in IVF is its success rate. A 2009 report, “Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates”, conducted by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, stated that the percentage of cycles that resulted in live births was 22.4 percent on average (higher or lower depending on the age of the woman). In essence this gives these parents yearning for a child a false hope at a high cost. In Trinidad IVF can see families pay up to $50,000 per cycle, while in Barbados it can cost up to US$10,000. This has to be paid whether or not the procedure results in pregnancy. The church holds that every child is a gift from God and has its own inalienable rights as a human person. Every child should have the right to be conceived and born from its biological parents. IVF removes this indisputable right of every child and replaces it initially with a laboratory procedure. The Catholic Church joins science in proclaiming that the best environment for a child to develop and excel is one where the biological parents are present and nurturing their child. Again IVF doesn’t always provide for this. So what does the church suggest and support? At the top of the list is the Billings Ovulation Method (BOM). This is a purely natural and inexpensive method of fertility management. BOM is a better option because of the following: 1. No side-effects or long-term health risks. 2. One hundred percent natural, drug-free and non-invasive. 3. Very simple to use. 4. Extremely affordable ($100 to learn from a BOM teacher). 5. Strengthens the relationship between spouses. 6. Is morally acceptable to all cultures and religions. The Catholic Church holds its banner of the dignity of the human person is paramount in all things. This is why the church is extremely happy with the BOM as it provides for the dignity of both the parents and the child. The aforementioned benefits are not the only reason that BOM is endorsed by the church. Billings Ovulation Method has success rates ranging from 63 percent to 80 percent. The Billings Ovulation Method Association can be contacted at (868) 364-1659. Finally, we cannot ignore a most disturbing aspect of IVF and that is the arbitrary disposal of those fertilised eggs that are not used. The fact that fertilised eggs are inserted into a woman’s uterus to develop into a child clearly points to the fact that these embryos contain life. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an embryo as “a human or animal in the early stages of development before it is born.” By destroying embryos a parent, doctor or laboratory assistant tramples on this primary right of every human being, of every child: the intrinsic right to a full life; and the church can never support the reduction of the life of a child to a commodity to be disposed of. The Catholic Church desires all married couples to be fulfilled and have children. The church sees this as one of the greatest expressions of love between a husband and wife. And so she encourages all to embrace healthy, positive and hopeful ways of bringing these gifts into the world and providing them with the best possible loving environment to be nurtured in.

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