Re: [asa] The unexpected burden of IVF

Although I didn't have the time to read all of it,
what I read was very interesting! Thanks for posting
it!

I want to present a question which is indirectly
related to this topic--the question of whether or not
IVF in and of itself is ethical from a Christian point
of view (apart from the final destination of the
unused embryos)? Here's my line of thought on this...

I have volunteered with many animal rescue groups over
the course of my life in order to save homeless pets
from being killed at the pounds (FYI--in case you're
not aware, that number is in the millions/year).
Generally speaking, I consider the practice of
breeders bringing yet more animals into the world to
be wrong, because they only exasperate the problem of
homeless pets, resulting in greater animal suffering
and higher kill rates. I'm of the opinion that those
who wish to adopt an animal should do so from a rescue
group, pound, etc, so that those animals already
living and in need may be cared for and loved.

I use this as an illustration, not to equate animal
life with human life (because they're not equal), nor
do I wish to open up a debate about animal breeding;
rather, my question is this: considering that there
are thousands, perhaps millions of children waiting to
be adopted, is it consistent with Christian ethics for
parents to go out of their way to create biological
offspring rather than open their homes to orphans or
other children already in existence, that are in need?
Is infertility perhaps a "sign" from God that His will
is for parents to have children through adoption
rather than the "natural" way?

Though my own personal leanings are to favor such a
view, I hesitate to think that this is a "Christian
ethic" for all. Any thoughts?

Christine

--- drsyme@cablespeed.com wrote:

---------------------------------

In looking up something for the "worthy response"
thread. I came across this article.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/07/souls_on_ice.html

There are several interesting points in this article.
First of all they estimate that there are 500,000
embryos in cryo storage without any clear destination.

Second, I am impressed with how much these parents
struggle with the issue of these frozen embryos, and
what to do with them. If there are so many people
that think of these embryo's as human, that gives some
weight to David O's view that because they are
potentially people they are people. (And even though
I find it interesting it is not enough to convince me
that David's position is correct.)

Third, I expect someone to mention Nazi medical
experiments with this comment, but if the embryos are
there, and they are just going to be destroyed, why
shouldnt we use them for stem cell research, even if
one thinks that they are fully human?

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Received on Thu Sep 6 20:44:05 2007