In Vitro Fertilization (and other fertility issues)

[tdarr2201]

There have been two young couples in our church (early 20s) who, after a short time of not getting pregnant and told by their doctors that they would never be able to have children on their own, went through with the in vitro procedure. I do not know if their doctors are Christian or not. Since then, one of the couples has gotten pregnant naturally (I wonder about the ethics of this doctor; clearly his diagnosis was wrong). There are several other couples in our church who I think may be considering it.

I have talked to several people, whose scriptural maturity I respect, about this, with no consensus.

Can anyone make the argument for / against this from a scriptural standpoint?

[steve]

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward."
Psalm 127:3

"Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb."
Genesis 30:22

"And [Hannah's] rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb."
1 Samuel 1:6


In general, I consider a Christian couple's desire to conceive to be a matter of trusting in God's sovereign wisdom in giving or not giving children. That is why I do not encourage people to prevent conception through birth control, and the same principle would seemingly apply to artificial means of causing conception. There are other ways of seeing it, of course. I might think it wise to use birth control in circumstances where medical professionals predict that pregnancy would present a risk to the mother's life (but then, doctors have often been wrong in these predictions, just as they were wrong in saying your friends would never be able to conceive naturally).

After my wife and I had our fourth child, we expected to keep having more until we reached the end of our fertility. This fertility ended sooner than we expected, and we were unable to conceive any more for the remaining ten years of our marriage. It seemed tragic that we were not given more children (while others who did not seem to appreciate children often had plenty), but I now see the wisdom of God in withholding additional babies from us. I am glad that we did not take matters into our own hands and force the issue.

[Sean]

In general, I consider a Christian couple's desire to conceive to be a matter of trusting in God's sovereign wisdom in giving or not giving children. That is why I do not encourage people to prevent conception through birth control, and the same principle would seemingly apply to artificial means of causing conception. There are other ways of seeing it, of course. I might think it wise to use birth control in circumstances where medical professionals predict that pregnancy would present a risk to the mother's life (but then, doctors have often been wrong in these predictions, just as they were wrong in saying your friends would never be able to conceive naturally).

Something Paul said has given me pause concerning this issue. I'm not quite sure what to make of it but Paul did say something interesting:

1 Cor 7:25 Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. 26 I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is: 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you. 29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, 31 and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away. 32 But I want you to be without care.

I wonder why Paul, having just said in 1 Cor 7:24 let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called. turns around and says that you can and maybe even should reconsider the married life because of the trouble you may wind up in (70AD?) if you lose your wife or children. I wonder how this would be different from someone wanting to limit their family size for some ligitimate reason. Paul could have just said to trust God and get married if that is your gift. But he gave another option. One that would spare people hardship.

At least that's how I'm reading it.