I was recently disheartened/disappointed to see that "Fuller House"(the reboot of my beloved 90s show, "Full House") chose to include a storyline involving IVF. I saw it coming when the adult version of middle-daughter, Stephanie, revealed in an earlier episode that she would never be able to have kids. Several episodes later, Aunt Becky is pushing Stephanie to a fertility doctor and then the show writers take it a step further with Stephanie looking for potential "baby daddies" despite the fact that she's currently in a relationship....😒
Hence the inspiration for this blog post in which I explain what IVF is and the reasoning for why I along with Catholicism is not in favor of it.
What is IVF?
IVF stands for In-Vitro Fertilization, a process used to assist women with getting pregnant involving isolating and then fusing together egg & sperm samples in a petri dish then injecting the resulting embryo into the woman's uterus.
Sounds wonderful at first glance, right? For women who suffer from infertility, they now have a way to become pregnant and have babies, yay!?!
Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?
IVF is actually offense against the virtue of chastity. How so? The Church teaches that every sexual act has 4 ends: total, faithful, fruitful, and free. Additionally, children should be seen as a *gift* and not as something to which a person is entitled. Hence, it is wrong for a woman to try to force a pregnancy through artificial means. Infertility is a cross that some women must bear, a suffering to be sure, but one that they may choose to unite with the Crucifixion of our Lord who promises to give us the grace to carry whatever cross(es) He may permit in our lives.
Ultimately, children should be the fruit of the loving union of husband and wife who give themselves fully to each other in the sexual act.
For more information, check out these helpful links:
Reasoning through the teachings & beliefs of the Catholic Church while striving to live them out as a young adult.
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