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Christianity Today, April (Web-only), 2007 |

U.K.'s Solution to Multiple Problems: One at a Time

Britain may tighten IVF laws to prevent multiple pregnancies.

Tabby Yang | posted 4/12/2007 09:25AM

New legislation proposed in the U.K. will introduce tighter regulations for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures and potentially decrease the number of IVF-related abortions. The legislation, if passed, ...

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Annie Witz

Posted: April 13, 2007 9:06 PM

The problem with IVF is that it makes embyos that will die most of the time. Look at the stats of how many rounds of IVF fail. You are making embyros that will die. This is why so many in the prolife world are against this. While I say this with a heavy heart for those who can't have a baby the ends don't justify the means. Those who think this is OK should ask themselves when did Christ become both God and man? It was at conception and not sometime after that. As to the comments from Mr Tenhula protecting life from conception is not pandering to the right. It is a fundamental right that all Christians should be fighting for. Couldn't I say to him that those in the western world have the luxury of even considering IVF while those in the third world would probably be shocked by the very thought of it. Christians not only do more humanitarian aid than any other religion and most know that we should do more!

arussell

Posted: April 13, 2007 7:18 AM

What they don't mention in this article is the tremendous costs involved with IVF, emotional and financial. We, like Adrienne, fully understand the moral implications of going through the process. However, following a plan like Germany means that I would probably have only one child. It is tremendously expensive and not covered by insurance in most states. Additionally it is a huge emotional strain to go through the process. I can't imagine having to do that over and over. We implanted two embryos, and I am pregnant with one. We will use all of our frozen embyros or adopt them to another Christian family. I don't think it is a place that lawmakers should be involved. That is best left to parents and their doctors, and that is why as a Christian you choose your doctor wisely.

Adrienne

Posted: April 12, 2007 1:32 PM

My husband and I have had two children by IVF. We are staunchly pro-life and would never have considered it as an option if the hospital we used did not have rigorous standards. They never implant more than two at a time. They also provide opportunities for donation of embryos for adoption and will not destroy embryos unless the patients insist on it (which, of course, we don't). They also offer cryo-storage for future attempts. We are both concerned with people who fertilize eggs willy-nilly, feeling free to destroy those they aren't interested in. There are, understandably, people who have not considered the ethical implications of IVF, but rest assured, there are ways to approach infertility using IVF that do not violate moral principles. If done cautiously, thoughtfully and prayerfully, it can be a viable option, I think, even for believers.

Warren Johnson

Posted: April 12, 2007 1:10 PM

Hessel Bouma stated: "The Christian community would be well served if we could assist infertile couples in recognizing that the inability to conceive or bear a child need not be perceived as a curse or a failure to 'be fruitful and multiply.'" My wife and I found ourselves approaching our 14th anniversary without children. We were under no misperception of our situation as being under a curse or of having failed to keep a divine commandment. Nevertheless, we felt great anguish. I was a Ph.D. student at an evangelical seminary, so I had received the kind of education Bouma advocates, but the pain remained. Although I am an educator, I am not convinced that "education" is the solution to this problem. Before our 15th anniversary our daughter was born, and since then we have had a son. Our joy at their presence is no more derived from the fulfillment of a divine imperative than was the anguish of their absence. Our joy is in a unique relationship with these two gifts of God.

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