Reproductive Technology

Nowhere else on earth except on a skinny white plastic stick can two vertical lines create such immense joy. What’s represented by those two lines—the culmination of marital love and unity—is the fulfillment of long-held hopes and dreams. Indeed, they often evoke tears of happiness and maybe even a little victory dance. These two lines…

The Centers for Disease Control (CDCs) define the general class of “assisted reproductive technologies” (ARTs) as those procedures where eggs or embryos are handled. This involves surgically removing eggs from a woman’s body, combining them with sperm in the laboratory, and then returning them to the woman (or another woman). The CDCs do not keep…

In essence, [surrogacy] is the ultimate manifestation of the neoliberal project of capitalist commodification of all life to create profit and fulfill the narcissistic desires of an entitled elite. ~Kathleen Sloan, director of the Connecticut chapter of the National Organization for Women.1   What Is Surrogacy? Surrogate motherhood is the oldest form of assisted reproduction.…

The Catholic Church teaches that in vitro fertilization is immoral because it not only commodifies a person but also eliminates the marital act from that person’s creation. In addition, it can lead to the deaths of tiny preborn children when unwanted embryos are discarded or used for testing. This is a bitter pill to swallow…

While in-vitro fertilization (IVF) seems to be a viable solution to infertility for many, the consequences of IVF are often hidden. The clearest consequence is that many more embryos than are “needed” are actually formed. The “extra” embryos are frozen in what is known as cryopreservation.1 These embryos can be conserved for long periods up to…

The goal to be a father, to be a mother, is a human right. An absolute human right. ~Italian infertility specialist Severino Antinori.1 God bestowed men and women with an innate desire to procreate and to nurture their children. This is one of the most fundamental instincts of all, shared by all of God’s creatures.…

The very probability that we may be faced with a human person in the full sense constitutes, in my opinion, an absolute veto against any type of [in-vitro] experimentation. ― Father Bernard Häring.1   Introduction Assisted reproductive technology is one of the most complex moral fields debated today.  It is actually an aggregation of several…

  Senator Brian Harradine: “How often has in‑vitro fertilization been undertaken on non‑human higher primates?” Professor William Short: “It has not been undertaken on gorillas because gorillas are an endangered species.” Senator Brian Harradine: “So you are able to do it on humans?” Professor William Short: “We are not an endangered species.”1   The history…

Surrogacy is the process of conceiving a child by in vitro fertilization (IVF) or artificial insemination, then implanting the embryo in the womb of a woman (called the surrogate) who is not the intended mother of the child. Once the child is born, the surrogate gives the child to the intended parents. Altruistic surrogacy is a…