Can Christians Use In Vitro Fertilization To Conceive?

Can Christians Use In Vitro Fertilization To Conceive?

Bro. John:
"Is it lawful in the sight of God for a couple who see to have children by means of in vitro fertilization?
--Issac

Dear Bro. Isaac:
The term "in vitro" means outside the living body. In the field of reproduction it refers to the scientific practice of removing the ovum or egg of the woman and taking the sperm of the man and bringing them together in the petri dish of the medical laboratory. The sperm may naturally penetrate the egg or it may be implanted by the scientist. Once fertilized and its vitality observed, the zygote, (delevoping life), is then implanted in the woman's uterus. If all goes well it will attach and grow to maturity and in nine months a natural birth will occur. Being a fairly recent scientific developmen, past generation had no occasion to wrestle with the morality of the procedure.

Difficulty in conceiving a chiild is a problem the human race has dealt with from earliest times. Abraham and Sarah and Issac and Rebecca had difficulty achieving pregnancy. Most couples in their child-bearing years desire to have a child or children. It is God' s will that married couples be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28).

In days past, when couples had difficult conceiving, all sorts of folk remedies were proposed to help them reach their goal. Most of them were not only unscientific but ridiculous. Today there are numerous recommendations that are sometimes helpful that do not involve measures as drastic as in vitro fertilization. I mention this because no one would question the use of vitamins, medicines and even surgical procedures to assist in conception. In some cases the woman's fallopian tubes are scarred and the egg cannot reach the womb. Previously, in such cases there was no hope for conception. The development of powerful microscopes and the refinement of micro medical procedures now allows the doctors to assist the couple by use of the in vitro procedure. In my judgement this is no different than other medical procedures that assist in conception. It involves a husband and a wife conceiving a child with the help of a skilled physician.

There are cases where this procedure could be abused.

We read of lesbians, using donor sperm conceiving a child by in vitro fertilization.
There is the possiblity of people producing human fetuses for scientific experiementation.
There is the possiblity of producing babies to provide needed replacement parts for those already born.
These and other similar uses of the procedure are clearly abuses of that which can otherwise provide a beneficial service to humanity. They dinigrate human life. Some of the procedures destroy the life they have generated. Such violates the divine principle of the sacredness of human life made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). It violates the prohibition "thou shalt not kill...i.e., do no murder" (Rom. 13:9). Like many other inventions of men, in vitro fertilization rightly used can be a blessing, wrongly used it can be a sinful action.

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