Can infertile catholic couples go through IVF and not feel guilty about going against their faith beliefs? Hypothesis:
IT IS POSSIBLE FOR COUPLES WHO ARE STRONG IN THEIR FAITH TO GO THROUGH IVF AND CONTINUE THEIR FAITH BELIEFS WIHTOUT FEELING GUILTY.
Catholicism and IVF Pope Benedict XVI:
Scientific and technological progress in the field of bioethics becomes a threat when man loses sense of his own limitations and in effect, aims to take the place of God the creator. Today I’m here to talk about the Catholic view on IVF and the choices confronting the followers of the catholic faith when it comes to infertility and wanting a child. Most people want to know if it is possible for catholic couples to go through IVF without feeling guilty about going against their faith. For catholic couples who are infertile, IVF is a big choice to make as deciding to go through with it may impact heavily on the couple’s religious life. Couples have three choices, one: Go through IVF and move away from their church, two: Go through IVF and continue with their faith, but bear the guilt of defying catholic beliefs, or three: continue with their faith and not go through IVF at all, and live life without having any children of their own. Catholicism is a branch of Christianity that has its own creed, and own hierarchy – starting with the pope working down to lay people. The pope represents the hand of God; he is the head of the church, the representative of God on earth.
Catholic beliefs are based on the Holy Bible and Sacred Traditions that have been interpreted by the Church's teaching authority. The church teaches that ending the life of a pre-embryo, embryo or foetus is wrong, as they believe that life begins at the fertilization of an ovum by a sperm. Humans must be respected from the very moment they come into existence, and as IVF can be taken as man trying to play god, the pope strongly condemns such acts as Stem Cell Research and IVF. “IVF