The assisted reproductive technology (ART) known as in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been used in the United States for over forty years and surrogacy dates back to ancient times. For most considering these practices, there exists a pleasant image of a willing surrogate, a healthy pregnancy and visions of holding a baby in domestic bliss. A majority of Americans are in favor of using technology to produce children, inasmuch as the dilemmas in bioethics and morality remain misunderstood, unexplored or hidden from view.  

In Vitro Fertilization

Couples seeking treatment for infertility account for the majority of IVF cycles in the U.S., but there is a growing trend of same-sex couples and single individuals using both IVF and surrogacy, likely due to greater access. 

More than 40% of same-sex couples desire to raise children and research shows they prefer ART to adoption.  At a price tag of anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 for one IVF cycle and $120,000 to $180,000 for contracting a surrogate, a "gestational carrier" as the industry prefers, there is a growing market for acquiring children using advanced technology partnered with a woman's womb.

According to Gallup polling, Americans are generally favorable toward the practice of IVF, but are divided on destroying the excess embryos the protocol necessitates.

Since the overturn of Roe v Wade, states are seeking more comprehensive definitions of when life begins. Proposed legislation around the nation has led to fresh questions scrutinizing the common practices within IVF and surrogacy. 

Some states are now recognizing "fetal personhood", granting legal protection for the unborn, defining life as beginning at conception.  Utah, Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri have the most stringent protections for human life at all stages of development, either by statute or judicial rulings.

Earlier this year, a pro-life group called Voice for the Voiceless sued seven fertility clinics in Utah, claiming their disposal of embryos within the IVF process violates the state’s wrongful death law. In Indiana and Ohio, courts are deciding if frozen embryos are human beings or merely property with regard to former partners disagreeing on what to do with the embryos now that their relationship has ended.

Thousands of babies are born through in vitro fertilization in a single year in the United States, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) President Dr. Jennifer Eaton:

 “More than 100,000 babies born through IVF in a single year is a powerful reminder of how many families rely on reproductive medicine to build their families,...these data also reflect the progress the field has made in improving accessibility, effectiveness, and safety.” 

As the practice of IVF and surrogacy is on the rise in the U.S., so too does the need to evaluate bioethical and moral considerations in the controversial practice of discarding and freezing human embryos. It's an astonishing reality, particularly for some Christians, who view this treatment of human beings as barbaric and mankind's attempt to "play God".

G.K. Chesterton, one of the most influential Christian apologists and prolific writers of the last century was deeply skeptical of advancing technology in the absence of morality.

“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it." -G.K. Chesterton, A Short History of England (1917) 

"Chesterton always remained skeptical of humanity’s ability to keep up with the pace of modern inventions. He constantly reminded his readers that just because something can be done, does not mean it should be done. His skepticism about unbridled scientism prompted him to oppose the then-popular theories of eugenics."  - Gregory Soderberg, Do New Inventions Kill Old Liberties?

Through research in an ethics class during his doctorate program, Orthodox priest, Fr. Joseph Hazar, discusses the concerns of IVF and surrogacy within the scope of Christian morality.  Foundational to Christianity is the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman. This reality presents the dilemma of a third party being involved in the reproductive act within holy matrimony using IVF and gestational or traditional surrogacy.

Whether a couple uses their own donated eggs and sperm or anonymous donors, these living gametes are now being manipulated by outside parties away from the intimate act of reproduction.  And in the case of anonymous donors, a child is being set up for a possible identity crisis by the deliberate concealment of clear lineage and relationship.

As highlighted in Fr. Hazar's research, Surrogate Motherhood, "The more one brings the act of reproduction within the intimacy of the marriage bed, the less one falls short of the mark by preserving the union in one flesh of husband and wife." - Dr. Engelhardt, The Foundations of Christian Bioethics

Do couples unable to bear children consider that this is the will of God? That, perhaps infertility does not have to necessitate grief and external manipulation, but rather provides an opportunity for acceptance that all things come down from Him? 

With so many orphans in need of a loving home, are these children considered something less than biological offspring?  Do the desires of a couple, a single person or those in a same-sex relationship take precedence over the interests of a child produced by technology coupled with a human womb?

Should children be purposely denied the gift of both mother and father?

These are some of the penetrating questions for an age moving full throttle into unmitigated exploration of innovation at the expense of morality and bioethics. The soul of mankind is ignored and possibly damned through the blind consumption of advanced science without ever asking, should we be doing this?