- This is a really important question,
and I often think about how this shows as much
as any of the things that I teach on how ethics intersects
with pastoral care and other dimensions.
So I remember back in my seminary days
doing a research paper on in vitro fertilization
and coming across this article that,
I can't remember much about what the article said,
but the title said "Hannah Prayed for a Child:
Today's Couples Seek Infertility Treatment."
And I thought that was a rather abrupt way of looking at it,
as though today's couples, Christian couples
who do pursue fertility treatment
aren't also praying about it.
And so, it got me thinking about it.
And the blessing of children is something
that a significant percentage of couples,
somewhere around 10% to 15% are unable to realize
because of infertility, and so the question is
how should we think about that?
The Bible testifies, not only that procreation
is a wonderful gift and blessing from God,
but also that childlessness is a burden
that is so often difficult to bear.
I mean, think of Proverbs 30:16,
that depicts the barren womb as something
that is never satisfied, and this is not a picture of
this couple that is discontent with what God has given them,
but rather, I think, it's a picture of the deep desire
that God has given us to have children,
because it is a great blessing from Him.
And so there's a great disappointment
and burden that is born when we're unable to have children.
One of the vivid portraits is of Rachel,
who is loved greatly by her husband Jacob,
and yet she's infertile, and she's burdened by this.
And so she comes to Jacob and she says,
give me children or I'll die.
And this is just a picture of what infertility
looks like and feels like, in fact,
research has shown that it is next to cancer
as causing great despair in the person who bears it,
so, infertility is a very difficult experience.
And it leads many couples to consider the use
of assisted reproductive technology,
including in vitro fertilization, or IVF as I'll call it.
So, with IVF, an egg is taken from the mother,
and sperm from the father, and they're brought together
in a Petri dish in a laboratory in the hope
that fertilization will occur, and if so,
then the embryo is incubated for a short time
and then transferred to the womb for implantation,
and if all goes well, then they'll have a child
by in vitro fertilization.
So, the question is, whether it is okay
for faithful Christian couples to pursue
in vitro fertilization and some are opposed to IVF
out of principle, so some would argue against it
because they believe that fertilization
should only take place naturally inside the woman's body
by means of intercourse between a husband and wife.
Others are opposed because of the great cost
of in vitro, or other types of assisted
reproductive technologies which can come into the thousands
of dollars for each attempt.
And so there are some concerns that people raise.
Others, myself included, I would say,
are not opposed to IVF in principle,
but have concerns about the way that it is most often
practiced, and so I would offer a couple of guidelines
if a couple is to consider
the use of in vitro fertilization.
So, the most important guidelines I would offer are these.
First, if we think about one flesh in marriage
this means that we enjoy the blessings of marriage together
and we also deal with the burdens of marriage together.
And so, sometimes we think about how
it will be referred to as the husband who is infertile,
or the wife who is infertile,
I think we ought not to think in those terms,
but just think of, it's the couple that's infertile.
And sometimes the desperation for having a child
this desire to have a child of our own
is what many couples will say, will lead them
to use a donor for sperm, or a donor for egg,
or a surrogate, and yet in reality
that's not a child of their own.
It's his child or her child, but not their child
in a biological sense and that is meaningful.
So, I would caution first that based on one flesh
in marriage, the couple should not
go outside of their marriage to procure procreation.
So, that's the first thing.
The second thing I would say is having to do
with the treatment of embryos.
Typically in the use of IVF what happens is
excess embryos are created for efficiency in effect,
and if there's unhealthy embryos
they'll be discarded, then the ones that will be used
for implantation they may take one, or two,
or even up to three.
And if there's any excess they'll be stored and frozen.
In the United States in fact the exact number is not known,
but something over 500,000 embryos are in frozen storage.
And a lot of times couples don't even return to use them,
because they've decided enough is enough,
or in some cases, these cases appear in the news
all the time, a couple may end up getting divorced
and decide they don't want to use the spare embryos
and so forth, I would simply caution a couple,
that if you do proceed with in vitro fertilization
that you should not create excess embryos
because often these are lost.
And so it means that you only fertilize
the number of eggs that you need for implantation,
which would be up to two, probably as a maximum there.
So, those two basic principles
the one flesh principle, and then the treatment
of embryos are important.
The last thing I would say that even if these things
are followed, I would caution couples on this.
Before they were to even pursue
any form of reproductive technology,
I think they ought to consider very carefully,
and prayerfully, whether to proceed.
Not only because of the cost that is invested,
but also because even with going forward
with in vitro fertilization the success rate
is well under 50% for each round of treatment,
and so couples need to think about the fact
that even if they go through with this
they may not become pregnant, they may not have a child.
And so ultimately they need to think about
what will they do if they remain childless?
And this brings me back to the pastoral considerations
because couples who are going through this
are going through a very difficult time,
and need the support of their family, and friends,
and the church body, and in the end
they need to understand the promise of God.
So, in Isaiah 54:1, knowing the burden of barrenness,
Isaiah still says, sing oh barren one
you who have not born a child.
That is a remarkable thing to say and it's because
the good news is that Jesus will come,
and so our hopes are not ultimately in having children,
but we can rest in the promises of God,
and the blessing of the Gospel, the good news
that exceeds even the blessing of children.
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