Why the Church Says “Yes” to Life and “No” to IVF

Abstract

This article presents the principal Church teachings regarding in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since the birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first “test-tube” baby in 1978, around eight million IVF babies have been born. The Magisterium has pronounced her main teachings on IVF in Donum Vitae (1987), Evangelium Vitae (1995), and Dignitas Personae (2008). The Church says “no” to IVF due to the massive destruction of embryonic life, the assault on the meaning of the conjugal act and the treatment of the child as a product not a gift. She continues to announce a loud “yes” to life, endeavoring to take care of the human embryo, the least of our brothers and sisters (see Matthew 25:40).

Non-technical summary: Louise Brown, the first “test-tube” baby was born in 1978. Since then, around eight million babies have been born through IVF (in vitro fertilization). The Church is against IVF because it involves the massive destruction of human life, distorts the meaning of the sexual act between husband and wife, and treats the child like a manufacturing product, not as a gift. The Church strives to treat each human embryonic life, the least of our brothers and sisters (see Matthew 25:40), with dignity and respect.

Short summary: The Church says ‘yes’ to life and ‘no’ to IVF

Keywords: IVF, embryo, gift, Magisterium

The Church, as Mother, shows great concern for those couples who suffer from infertility. “Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. ‘What will you give me,’ asks Abraham of God, ‘for I continue childless?’ and Rachel cries to her husband Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I shall die!’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997, no. 2374). She also encourages ethical research that aims to prevent and treat infertility (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997, no. 2375). However, the Church also has a sacred duty to defend human life, and to speak out whenever it is threatened or in danger. A controversial area nowadays is when the infertile couple wishes to resort to in vitro fertilization (IVF). Once a religious Sister asked me, “If God is a God of life, why does the Church say ‘no’ to IVF?” This question can serve as a springboard to enter into a review of Church teaching on the topic of IVF. We will look at the main teachings on the subject from her Magisterium, and see how the Church gives a big “yes” to life, a big “no” to IVF and the reasons why.

The first specific Magisterial pronouncement on IVF came with the release of Donum Vitae, an instruction on respect for human life in its origin and on the dignity of procreation, issued 22 February 1987, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1987). This was 9 years after the birth of Louise Brown in England, the world’s first “test-tube” baby in 1978. Donum Vitae reiterated some fundamental concepts of Catholic teaching, such as the dignity of the person and the respect due human life from the moment of conception. The Instruction also noted that the technique of IVF involved wanton destruction of human embryonic life. It also taught the important principle that only techniques that assist the conjugal act were licit, not those that replace it.

Donum Vitae also addressed the suffering caused by infertility in marriage. “The suffering of spouses who cannot have children … is a suffering that everyone must understand and properly evaluate” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1987, II.8). The document underlines that sterility is a difficult trial and encourages research to alleviate this burden: “Scientists therefore are to be encouraged to continue their research with the aim of preventing the causes of sterility and of being able to remedy them so that sterile couples will be able to procreate in full respect for their own personal dignity and that of the child to be born” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1987, II.8).

The next milestone in Catholic teaching came with Pope John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae in 1995. His charter on the Gospel of Life dealt with a wide range of issues at the beginning of life (such as population concerns, contraception, sterilization and abortion) and at the end of life (such as euthanasia and the death penalty), among others. Regarding IVF and related techniques, we find in number 14:

The various techniques of artificial reproduction, which would seem to be at the service of life and which are frequently used with this intention, actually open the door to new threats against life. Apart from the fact that they are morally unacceptable, since they separate procreation from the fully human context of the conjugal act, these techniques have a high rate of failure: not just failure in relation to fertilization but with regard to the subsequent development of the embryo, which is exposed to the risk of death, generally within a very short space of time. Furthermore, the number of embryos produced is often greater than that needed for implantation in the woman's womb, and these so-called “spare embryos” are then destroyed or used for research which, under the pretext of scientific or medical progress, in fact reduces human life to the level of simple “biological material” to be freely disposed of (John Paul II 1995, no. 14).

On 8 September 2008, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released Dignitas Personae on certain bioethical questions (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2008). Seeing as this is the latest pronouncement on the technique of IVF, we will look at this document more closely. Dignitas Personae points out:

• • Around a third of women who seek recourse to IVF eventually succeed in having a baby (no. 14).

• • The number of embryos sacrificed is extremely high—those with defects are discarded; if too many implant successfully in the uterus, they are then selectively reduced (= aborted), and other embryos will be lost in the freezing/thawing procedures (no. 14).

• • in vitro fertilization creates an ethically unacceptable dissociation of procreation from the integrally personal context of the conjugal act (no. 16).

• • The legitimate desire for a child and the suffering of the parents struggling with infertility cannot justify the “production” of offspring (no. 16).

• • Research and investment directed at the prevention of sterility deserve encouragement (no. 13). ¹

The one area which continues to be cloudy is what to do with the ever-increasing number of frozen embryos languishing in clinics? ² These excess embryos are created to avoid repeated rounds of harvesting and fertilization. However, the “little souls,” frozen on ice (liquid nitrogen), are left to face an unsolvable situation. What to do with them? Rescue and adopt them? Or is this just giving a big thumbs up to the whole IVF industry? Leave them on ice? Let them thaw and die? When the United Kingdom announced that 3300 embryos were to be discarded (having passed the limit of 5 years of storage), a group of 200 women banded together in Italy and requested to prenatally adopt these embryos (Demartis 1998). Even some nuns asked the Vatican if they could offer their wombs to rescue these frozen little ones!

Regarding the fate of the millions of frozen embryos in storage, Dignitas Personae stresses that this is “a situation of injustice which in fact cannot be resolved” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2008, no. 19). Much has subsequently been written on the debate regarding the moral fate of these little ones, but to date, there still has been no specific Magisterial teaching on this challenging topic.

With these three documents, Donum Vitae (1987), Evangelium Vitae (1995), and Dignitas Personae (2008), the Church has laid out her teaching clearly. She wishes to continue to shout a big “yes” to life and defend against any practices which threaten or destroy human life. In summary then, her main reasons for saying “no” to IVF are:

The Massive Destruction of Human Life

The IVF industry involves massive destruction of human life. For each live baby produced, many of its brother and sister embryos are destroyed in the process. Dignitas Personae tells us that even in the best centers up to 80% of embryos are lost or destroyed (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2008, footnote 27).

The separation of the unitive and procreative dimensions of the conjugal act

These two dimensions, union and procreation, more simply remembered as bonding and babies, are two inseparable aspects of the sexual act. Humanae Vitae (1968) had already clearly underlined this, “the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act” (Paul VI 1968, no. 12).

The Child is a Gift, Not a Manufacturing Product

The child has the right “to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997, no. 2378). Mother Church reminds us that, “In reality, the origin of a human person is the result of an act of giving. The one conceived must be the fruit of his parents’ love. He cannot be desired or conceived as the product of an intervention of medical or biological techniques; that would be equivalent to reducing him to an object of scientific technology. No one may subject the coming of a child into the world to conditions of technical efficiency which are to be evaluated according to standards of control and dominion” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 1987, II, 4a).

Teaching of Pope Francis

In addition to these documents mentioned above from the Magisterium, Pope Francis has written on the need to uphold ethical principles when dealing with life issues. In Laudato si’, his document on the care of the environment, he cautions that “when technology disregards the great ethical principles, it ends up considering any practice whatsoever as licit” (Francis 2015, no. 136). In the same document, speaking of the human embryo, he asks “How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo?” (Francis 2015, no. 120).

In Amoris Laetitia, a document more specifically about love in the family, in number 56, the Pontiff makes a specific reference to assisted reproductive techniques writing:

The technological revolution in the field of human procreation has introduced the ability to manipulate the reproductive act, making it independent of the sexual relationship between a man and a woman. In this way, human life and parenthood have become modular and separable realities, subject mainly to the wishes of individuals or couples. It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality. Let us not fall into the sin of trying to replace the Creator. We are creatures, and not omnipotent. Creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift. At the same time, we are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created (Francis 2016, no. 56).

Aside from these teachings from the Magisterium, the respective Bishops’ Conferences in each country, and the local Catholic Medical Associations, often offer helpful explanations of Church teaching on IVF.

Conclusion

With over eight million live births since the technique was introduced in 1978, IVF has become a “normal” way to treat infertility. ³ However, there are clearly very troubling aspects of the procedure, clearly taught by the Church’s Magisterium and outlined above, especially the massive destruction of embryonic life, the assault on the meaning of the conjugal act and the treatment of the child as a product not a gift. The Catholic Church clearly states that IVF should not be practiced. What is worrying is that most Catholics (some healthcare workers, lay, priests and religious included) may know the Church says “no” but unfortunately cannot give any reasons or explain the why. Hopefully, this article can contribute in its own little way to redress this anomaly somewhat.

The Church as Mother identifies with the suffering caused by infertility. In her pronouncements she seeks to express that closeness to the infertile couple, as well as animating and encouraging sound ethical research to seek solutions. This is clearly seen for example in the address of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy for Life: “Consequently, I would like to encourage scientific research that seeks a natural way to overcome the infertility of the spouses, and likewise to urge all specialists to perfect those procedures that can serve this end” (John Paul II 2004, no. 3).

The Church continues to shout a loud “yes” to life, and each one of us is called to add our voice to this chorus. In doing so, we strive to uphold the dignity of the human embryo, the smallest of our brothers and sisters, remembering the words of our Lord, “Whatever you do to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).

Biographical Note

James McTavish, FMVD, MD, STL, is a Scottish Catholic missionary priest with the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity. Educated at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, his teaching affiliation is on-line through “St Paul the Apostle,” the Verbum Dei Institute of Theology, in Loeches, Madrid, Spain. He is currently based in Rome, as a recently appointed member of the General Council, working together with missionary men (priests & brothers), missionary women and missionary married couples in the governance and mission of the Congregation worldwide. He can be contacted at jamesverbumdei@gmail.com.

ORCID iD

James McTavish https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8851-7041