An interesting article appeared in the May 16 Zenit news bulletin, written by Father John Flynn, LC. It was titled “The Shady Side of In Vitro Fertilization” and summarized several recent articles concerning the health and legal risks of technological reproduction. The Catholic Church, of course, for the past 25 years has been warning people about this kind of child producing. The process itself results in loss of embryos/children — either directly or through their confinement in a frozen state until they die (or are destroyed). As many embryos as possible are harvested — six, eight, 10 or more. Those considered less healthy are destroyed. Supplementary ones are preserved in a frozen state.
But the church also is disturbed by the fact that the use of donor sperm or eggs means that a third party has been invited into the marriage. Marriage is meant by God to be an exclusive relationship of one man and one woman. Inviting a third party to be the genetic father or mother of a child is the moral equivalent of adultery. And in addition, the conception of the child occurs in an impersonal way, through the mixing of gametes in a test tube by a lab assistant. God intended conception to occur through the loving, personal embrace of husband and wife.
But the focus of the article by Father Flynn was on the warnings today, especially by secular authors, about the health risks for women who sell their eggs for in vitro fertilization. In 2006, over 10,000 babies were born from donor eggs. The temptation to sell eggs is strong. A hundred college newspapers in the U.S. run ads regularly promising coeds $10,000 and more for egg donations. $10,000 is the limit suggested by American Society for Reproductive Medicine but competition in the field is high and since there are no real government regulatory bodies, higher prices are often offered, especially for special physical characteristics. The amount of money is a real temptation for college students struggling to pay tuition. But the possible risks of giving donor eggs include: strokes, organ failures, infections, loss of future fertility, cancers, bladder damages, etc. The process of a woman receiving drugs to increase the maturation of more eggs than usual and the process of harvesting these eggs using a long hollow needle to reach the woman’s ovaries is one that is hard on the human system. The new research cautions women of any age about being part of the egg donor process, based on health factors alone.
Sometimes it is argued that giving eggs is like giving an organ donation. But the comparison is not true, as Father Flynn points out, quoting Jennifer Lahl. An organ donor gives an organ or part of an organ to a person who is seriously ill or perhaps dying. A recipient of an egg is not sick but is “a consumer purchasing a product.” One critic speaks of it as an instance in which a woman exploits another woman’s body.
Another aspect of reproductive technology today is that of surrogate mothering. The Wall Street Journal in a recent article noted that in the United States of America eight states have prohibited some or all surrogacy procedures; in other states, courts have refused to enforce contracts. Only 10 states have enacted legislation to permit surrogate arrangements. Because of this India has become a haven for some couples (or individuals) to engage surrogate mothers, due the lack of laws governing these transactions in that country. Indian women of lower classes are willing to run the risks of surrogacy because the financial recompense they receive is equivalent to ten year’s wages (according to an article in the Times of India). But another problem has arisen: some couples arranging surrogacy have had difficulty in establishing legal parenthood after the birth of the child.
Reading the reports, one is more convinced than ever of the wisdom of the Catholic Church’s judgment concerning in vitro fertilization and surrogacy. We certainly feel sorrow at the pain of a couple that is infertile. But the end never justifies the means. A good goal does not make legitimate a wrong means to achieve it.
Father John A. Leies, SM, is president emeritus of St. Mary’s University and was formerly head of the Theology Department there.