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Reproductive Technologies and Genetics
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Several methods for overcoming infertility are widely used and accepted.
Artificial insem ination
(AI) involves the injection of sperm either into a
woman’s vagina or into her uterus. The sperm can come from either her hus
band (AIH) or from a donor other than her husband (AID).
In vitro fertili
zation
(IVF) is the process (used in the cases of Arlette Schweitzer and
Anna Johnson) of removing a woman’s ova or eggs, combining them with
sperm in a petri dish
(in vitro
means “in glass”), and after two or three days
inserting the fertilized egg or eggs into the womb that will carry the child.
While semen specimens are collected through masturbation, ova are
removed from the ovaries with a laparoscope. Doctors usually give drugs to
the woman to increase the number of eggs produced in the month when they
intend to harvest the eggs. Two other strategies are designated GIFT and
XIFT. Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) refers to the injection of ova
and sperm into the fallopian tubes, with the hope that these will unite. In
zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), an embryo produced in a petri dish is
placed in the fallopian tube.
Embryo transfer
(ET) is the process of conceiving embryos in one
woman, removing them early in their development, and transferring them to
another woman. Surrogate mothering, as discussed above, involves the use
of another woman to carry and bear the baby.
While many people, even some Christians, welcome these technological
advances, many others raise objections to them. Some object to any form of
technological assistance in conception because it separates sexual union
from procreation, thus going against God’s intent for human relationships.
God gives the gift of children to many, and those who are unable to have
children naturally should recognize their situation as God’s will for them.
We should not interfere in the situation. Further, by artificially producing
pregnancy, we diminish the importance of the sexual union since the child
is not the result of an act of parental love. Others view this as a simplistic
objection, asserting that the attempt to have children and to overcome infer
tility by technological means is no less an act of love than is the act of sexual
intercourse. Rather, it demonstrates a couple’s great desire for children. In
this view, the objectors place too much emphasis on the sexual act.
In the first essay, religion professor Janet Dickey McDowell claims that
we ought to rejoice with those who overcome infertility through the use of
IVF. Rather than weakening the sexual union, IVF may relieve the stress
placed on a marriage due to infertility, thereby actually strengthening the
marriage and the sexual union. She resolves the problems involved with IVF
by asserting that the objection is not with the technology itself, but with the
wrongful use of the technology. She is cautious, however, about other pro
cedures such as AID and surrogacy.
A different objection to the use of some reproductive technologies is the
potentially profound psychological impact on children who find out they are