Sometimes we as Catholics need to speak prophetically to a culture that has become distorted, even if that means facing rejection or derision. Today I want to share with you an important aspect of the Church’s teaching on the human person, which may not be well known to most Catholics or society more broadly. 

In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy are becoming much more widespread and accepted in today’s culture. These practices promise children to moms & dads who otherwise wouldn’t be able to conceive, and produce children who are loved by God, and who are likely sitting in our pews on Sunday. 

And yet IVF comes at a great cost, not only monetarily for the treatments themselves, but more importantly in the many unique lives that are produced and discarded as part of the process. Accurate statistics are difficult to come by, but roughly 95% of embryos conceived in this way — hundreds of thousands of tiny human babies each year — are eliminated each year due to IVF. It is morally unacceptable to do evil in order that some good may come about, and we have a clear example of that in IVF and the large-scale destruction of human life. 

Beyond the devastating consequences of IVF, the method itself is a rejection of God’s plan for human sexuality, as it separates the marital act from procreation. Parents are privileged to cooperate with God in the creation of a new person! But when they do so outside of God’s plan, it is akin to the disobedience of Adam and Eve, taking for themselves what they desire, rather than lovingly accepting what God desires to give them. 

All of that said, we should not be blind to the fact that infertility is a cross for many couples. The good news is that there are morally permissible alternatives to IVF and surrogacy! Of course adoption is one, which can be a great witness and work of mercy. Another morally permissible option is Natural Procreative Technology (NaPro), which has been proven to treat many of the underlying causes of infertility so that couples may conceive naturally. 

Let’s pray for each other, and encourage each other in doing the good.