E19: Assisted Reproductive Technology: The Reality of IVF

Why does the Church condemn IVF as immoral? What really happens as a result of IVF? So many people struggle with infertility and loss—why can't the Church just be happy that people want to have children?

Tune into this month's episode to understand and encounter the love of the Father for all of his children as we dig into why the Church holds firm and fast to the immorality of IVF.

“When the marital act of sexual intercourse is not able to attain its procreative purpose, assistance that does not separate the unitive and procreative ends of the act, and does not substitute for the marital act itself, may be used to help married couples conceive. Those techniques of assisted conception that respect the unitive and procreative meanings of sexual intercourse and do not involve the destruction of human embryos, or their deliberate generation in such numbers that it is clearly envisaged that all cannot implant and some are simply being used to maximize the chances of others implanting, may be used as therapies for infertility” (ERD, no. 38-39 | Ethical & Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 6th Edition. USCCB)

SOURCES:

• IVF Attrition Rate & Embryo Survival: What to Expect | Illume Fertility
• What the data says about abortion in the U.S. | Pew Research Center
• Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2021 | CDC
• More human embryos destroyed through IVF than abortion every year | CNA
• Multifetal Pregnancy Reduction | ACOG

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, friends. Welcome back to another episode of Catholicism 101, Forever Learning and Living the Faith. I by the title of this, you can tell that this is probably, not probably, this is a controversial topic. This is one that is very, very tender to the hearts of so, so many people. And to be honest, it is one that I am just humbled and really excited to talk about. This this is an area of Catholic theology that I really, really love. Not too, too many people have a love for Catholic morality and Catholic sexual ethics, but for some reason, these teachings, this theology lights my soul on fire. And I truly love it so much. And it's not necessarily any of the legalistic parts of it. It really comes down to what the heart of it is and the wisdom of the father and his fatherly love for us. So as we get into this episode, um, my hope and my prayer is that as we go through all of these things surrounding um IVF, specifically in the area of assisted reproductive technology, that you learn and are able to see the Father's heart for you and not only for your heart, but the heart of all people. So that being said, um I'm clearly excited to present this to you. And again, I hope and I pray that you can um receive this into your own heart from my heart, knowing that um this isn't me wanting to um pound something into your head or anything like that. This is truly um a discovery that I have fallen in love with, um, and I have fallen in love with the giver of the law. And um I just I hope and I pray the same for you. And I hope that that shines through as you listen. So let's let's get into it. Okay, so part of the whole goal of this podcast is to help us understand what our faith teaches, right? There are these generational differences where most of our parents or our grandparents had to accept the answer of because I said so, or because they are the expert. And because of that, oftentimes they were discouraged from asking any further questions. Now, I'm a young woman, I'm 26 at the time of recording this, and so I classify as Gen Z whether or not I like it. Um but as part of this millennial Gen Z, these generations, um, we as a spokesperson, we haven't really taken well with our questions being shut down. Um and sometimes our parents aren't even able to answer them because they actually never got a real answer themselves. So basically, there's just been in my observation and um in my peers and all of this, uh, there's just this precedent of respect the fact that these people know more than you and that they know better than you. And I'm here to say that that is 100% a necessary and that is a good thing. But at the same time, it cannot be accompanied by um shutting down someone else's search for understanding, right? So understandably so, um, these these younger generations like millennials and Gen Z, uh, we have kind of developed this mindset of um if you want me to respect the knowledge and understanding that you've gained, then I also want you to respect um my own desire for knowledge and understanding. So please explain. So, like we know like the classic um the classic question of the two-year-old is why, right? Everyone always or all the two-year-olds are always like, why, why, why? Um, and so um I kind of consider myself the two-year-old that never was content with the answer and always asked why and still asks why. Um, and that's how I've ended up where I am. So um, you know, as we get into this, these these areas of the why, um, there's oftentimes a lot of hurt behind that why. Um the the especially in these areas of just sexual ethics and infertility issues and all of this, these are these are very touchy, very painful subjects for so, so many people. Um, and so I I want to have that reverence as we get into this of um these are really painful, tender areas um in our hearts. And it's really hard oftentimes um to see the goodness and the love of God whenever we are in the midst of deep, deep pain. So again, I just kind of want to reverence that before um I really start getting into this. So know that that is um a prayer of mine that we don't get caught in the legalism of all of this, um, but instead we can actually see into the heart of the father um and trust that the law he gives us and the moral guidelines he gives us and trusts us, um that he just trusts us with. They are a sharing in his wisdom, um, and his wisdom and his law is love. So now let's let's set a background because I don't I don't want to just dive into this headfirst without having um some sort of background of moral theology. Like what what I know I've done a whole episode on the heart of moral theology uh or the heart of Catholic morality, but again, I want to kind of set um a clear foundation before I get into this. If we want to understand um what the father teaches, we have to understand where he's coming from. So, in order to understand why the church teaches what she does in these areas of sexual ethics and assisted reproductive technology, so the this ranges from things like IVF, which obviously we're talking about today, um, surrogacy, IUI, ovulation induction, egg retrieval, embryo adoption, and on and on. Um, these these are the heavy hitters. But um in order to understand these, like I said, we have to get to the root of why the church has moral laws um and again reorient our own view of God the Father. So we have two different views of freedom in our world, okay? And um I I kind of want to encourage you, whenever we think of freedom, we automatically go to like politics. And I kind of want to encourage you to just like take your mind out of that space for a second, um, and just kind of have like an empty spot in your mind to listen to what this is. So there's something called freedom of indifference, and then there is something called freedom for excellence, all right? And this basically comes down to um an oppressive view of God or like a glass half-empty kind of mindset, kind of freedom. Um, and that's freedom of indifference versus a freedom for excellence, which is freedom that guides us towards the true fulfillment of our deepest desires. So a repressive freedom versus um a freedom that shoots us for the stars. So here are some of the common mindsets of um freedom of indifference. It is the less law there is, the happier I am. The less laws that are imposed on me, the happier I am. Um God doesn't actually want my freedom and happiness. And if God is against my freedom and happiness, then it's up to me to make myself happy. And that makes his laws irrelevant. Um, and then there's also kind of this lingering, deep-seated mistrust and fear that God is withholding something good from me. And that very deep-seated fear and mistrust and the goodness and fatherly love of God is at the heart of the fall of Adam and Eve. They grasped at the gift rather than received it. Um, and again, that's there's there's a whole thing with Genesis we're not gonna get into right now, but that that is at the root of the fall of a distrust in the gift and the fact that God wants to give you a gift. So the freedom of indifference, these mindsets, um basically their view of God is as sovereign lawgiver, um, an impersonal God, and whose highest value is like your obedience. The thing he values most about you is merely your obedience. So that is that is freedom of indifference. No, that doesn't sound like fun. It's not fun. So we're gonna talk about uh the good goods, freedom for excellence. So these are the mindsets of freedom for excellence. Um, God is not merely just this law-giving tyrant, he is actually a loving father. And a good father not only protects his children from danger, but he teaches them how to defend themselves in the midst of danger. God, who is the greatest father, he wants what is actually truly best for me, uh, which I know from my own self, like my deepest desire is to be happy, right? My deepest desire is to be free and happy. Um, and if that's my deepest desire, then that's God's deepest desire for me. And so he wants to help me get there. He wants to give me good gifts, he wants me to be truly happy. Um and I kind of think of that that classic nursery rhyme, hush little baby, don't say a word. Um basically we we all know it. It's it's hush little baby, don't you cry, daddy's gonna sing you a lullaby. Hush little baby, don't say a word, daddy's gonna buy you a mocking bird. And if that mocking bird don't sing, Daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And it goes on and on, and it's like if the gift I give you is like no longer good enough or like worthy of you, then I'm gonna give you something better, right? Because if that diamond ring turns brass, daddy's gonna buy you a looking glass. And he goes on and on, and he gives you a horse, uh, a horse, he gives you a horse and a cart. Um, and if that horse, oh my gosh, if that horse and cart turn round, you'll still be the sweetest little babe in town. Um again, at the end of the day, he he wants to lavish good, good gifts upon you. He wants to give you better and better gifts. Um, he gives you the diamond ring, and maybe it's from Tiffany, and you're like, oh my gosh, this is the most beautiful, clear diamond I've ever seen in my life. And um he's like, oh, just wait, honey, it gets better. And then he gives you something better. Um and at the end of the day, he's like, You are greater than all of these gifts. Like, you are greater than all of these gifts. Um, and I truly want you to be happy. So, um, yeah, hush, little baby, don't say a word, is kind of how I view God the Father oftentimes. But here's the thing. Um, like I said, God wants us, He wants to give us these great, great gifts. Um, things that He knows are near and dear to the deepest parts of our hearts. But the thing is we cannot receive them if our hands are preoccupied with grasping for the things that we think will fulfill us, but are actually less than what God is trying to give us. So we have to have open hands, um, open hands in front of us. And you can think of like when you go up to receive communion, you're always told to make a throne with your hands or make a throne with your tongue. Um you you like you don't go and pick up the Eucharist out of the ciborium, right? You don't go pick it up. The priest acting as the person of Christ, um, representing Jesus Christ, he hands it to you, he gifts it to you and places it into your hands. You don't reach in and grab it. And again, we can go back to Adam and Eve here of like the Lord wanted them to be able to receive the goodness of the gift, um, of the knowledge of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He wanted to give that to them. He didn't want them to take it into their own hands. He wanted him to trust that he was going to give it to them. Um, so there is 100% this element of mystery that requires deep faith and deep trust. Um, and we all know that that is not easy by any means, but we also know that it is so, so much more rewarding. Um, again, I always go back to St. Paul in Romans. Um, for I declare that the present sufferings of this time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. He knows how hard it is to wait in the desert. He know how he knows how hard it is to see something good and want it, but not be able to have it yet. Um, he knows how hard that is, but he's like, just you wait. Just you wait till I give it to you. You're uh it's gonna be worth the wait. It's gonna be more than worth the wait. So um that faith and that trust, those are gifts. Those are gifts we have to receive and exercise. So they come from this place of childhood, being the fact that you are a child of God, the fact that you are a son or a daughter of the greatest father who wants to give you the greatest gifts. Um, I can't get, I can't get this image of like a giant Tiffany diamond ring out of my head. And I think it's because um, number one, I I did recently get back from vacation and I got to visit a Tiffany store and try on all these fancy rings and just for funsies and had a great time. Um and so like I have that ring in my mind. Um, but also it's so funny and it's so prophetic that like hush little baby, he buys you a diamond ring. But no matter how fancy and how beautiful that ring is, slash was, um we we have to take a step back and recognize and know um that like even if I did get that ring, I would not be fulfilled. I would actually probably probably feel guilty looking at it. Um, but we we know that our greatest and deepest desire um and what our ultimate fulfillment is, is eternal happiness. Um, and that is heaven. It is the fullness of communion with God, who is love itself. Um, He is love himself. Uh it is it is that superabundant eternal bliss and happiness, joy and peace. Um and we always have in us like just this nagging desire to want to be more, right? I want to be more than I am. Um what if what if I never see myself? Oh my gosh, that's that's from waitress. What if I never see myself ever be anything more than what I've already become? Okay, Broadway. But um, that's just like a deepest ache and longing of the human heart, and that is fulfilled super abundantly, just overflowing in heaven. Um, we become divinized, we become like God, we become more than we are ourselves. Um and that perfection, that that is wholeness, perfection, holiness to be made whole. Um we are all called to it, we are all made for it, and we are led there by the way of Catholic morality. Um, it's not simply human perfection, uh, or like quote unquote being a good person that we are called to. That's like kind of the bare minimum. Um, we don't want to just be a good person, we want to be like Christ. And that is not something we can do by our own human grit and effort. This is something that only happens by cooperation with grace. So, aka receiving the gift rather than grasping for it. Now, the moral teachings of the church, uh, especially in regards to the sexual and reproductive issues, they're not legalistic, they're not impersonal. Um, they are all rooted in our relationship with God as father rather than lawgiver. And um in that real it's all relational. It is about respecting the dignity of each and every single person's daughterhood or sonship. So um in the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood and just childhood of the the goodest, greatest father, um we're we're we're finally gonna get into it. 18, 19 minutes into this, we are getting into the thick of um IVF and marriage. So let's go. So the purpose of marriage, friends, uh stay tuned because this is something I could also go on and on and on and on about. Um so I'm gonna, I'm gonna very I'm gonna give you a quick synopsis here, but stay tuned for an upcoming bonus episode about theology of the body because it's all about how marriage is this profound, lived imaging of God as He is a trinity of persons. So I'll talk about that in a whole other episode. But for now, I just want you to hold in your mind that the communion of a husband and a wife was established by God as this earthly mirror of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit's communion with one another. I kind of liken it to like it's not a perfect mirror. Um, there's this phrase called divine accommodation. Um, you can look it up if you want, but um basically I I uh liken it to one of like those fun house mirrors where the mirror is a little wonky, like you still see yourself, but it's kind of like not exactly how it is, right? It's just like the way you're able to see it. Anyway, that's kind of what I think of. Um when it if you put the Trinity in front of a fun house wonky mirror, um, you're still gonna get an image of the Trinity. It's just not gonna look exactly like the Trinity. And what that reflection is gonna be is marriage and family. And if if you're married and you have kids and all of this, you're probably kind of giggling, like, oh, I'm sure we are the wonkiest mirror. But um there's a beauty and there's a joy in that. So now there are there are two purposes to marriage as we are this wonky mirrored image of the Trinity. Um, it is union and it is procreation. So union, it is this comes from humane vite. So Saint Paul VI, Saint Pope Paul the Six, um he says in humane vite, their trust is such, so a married couple, a husband and wife, their trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life, but also to grow so that husband and wife become in a way one heart and one soul, and together attain their human fulfillment. Um, aka uh you you want to get each other closer and closer and enter into the fullness of the reality of heaven that their one flesh union together gives them glimpses of. So together you glimpse it um in the marital embrace, you glimpse a moment of a drop of eternity. Um and so you you are you want to get to heaven together, you know. Um there's like country songs, it's like it's not heaven without you, like heaven's not heaven if you're not there. It's that kind of thing. Does that make sense? I hope so. Okay. So that's union. And then the there's procreation, right? So again, Paul VI, humana vite. This marital love is fruitful. It is not confined wholly to the loving interchange of husband and wife. It also is designed to go beyond this, to bring new life into being. So basically, you you glimpse in the marital union a moment of what eternity is like. And there is just this natural philosophy. There is this natural principle of life of love expands on itself, right? And I always give the example of like, what's one of the first things people do when they get engaged or have a baby or like get their wedding pictures back? They are all over Facebook, right? And that's a good thing, that's a beautiful thing, right? You've experienced love, you've experienced joy and one of its greatest forms. And you cannot wait to share it. Like it is seeping out of you. Um, like whenever you see a pregnant woman, you're like, oh my gosh, she's glowing, or like you see someone who's just been married or engaged, and you're like, oh my gosh, they're glowing. Yes. The joy and your heart, what's in the heart comes out. So if you are overfilling with joy, if you have love and peace and joy in your heart, it is evident, right? It is so evident. And so the procreation aspect of marriage is that this love goes beyond us. This love is so good and so deep, it goes beyond us and actually brings another life into the world to also experience the goodness and love of God the Father. We want to share the love that we have received and we want, we want to pack heaven essentially. Um so, yeah, the the procreation and education of children. That's how we often hear the procreative aspect of marriage phrase. And that is correct. Yes, the procreation and education of children. So bringing new life into the world and leading them to that ultimate happiness with God and one another in heaven. Now, with these two purposes of marriage, in 1968, Saint Pope Paul VI formally declared that there is not a hierarchy of these two purposes of marriage. So one is not more important than the other. Rather, they're actually inseparable. Um, removing one of these principles for marriage actually hurts the other one and the entire marriage itself. So let me let me kind of give you some concretes to this. So if you prefer the unitive or you have like this imbalanced value of the unitive aspect of marriage over the procreative, um that leads to contraception, right? Um and again, this alone deserves its own episode, alongside uh sterilization, because those are in the same, those are in the same um same category. So stay tuned for that. But on the flip side, if there is this imbalance of procreative over the unitive aspect, those that leads to things such as IVF and surrogacy. Now, I will say I'm not gonna talk about surrogacy as much really in this episode, um, because it honestly deserves its own episode alongside embryo adoption. Um so stay tuned for that as well. But the the whole thing with these imbalances is that if the marital act speaks something that, like, this is my body wholly and entirely given to you and only you, then to remove any aspect of it that is just fundamental. So, like the unitive and the procreative, to remove either or any of those is to lie with your body, um, which in and of itself is not only disrespectful to your spouse, but it actually is harmful to you as well. So keep in mind this foundational rule when we are looking at um assisted reproductive technologies, right? It is um this is the foundational rule. Any assistance or intervention that upholds and respects both the unitive and the procreative meaning of marital love are permitted, meaning that anything that upholds both the procreative and unitive, they are the these technologies are embraced and supported. And um we're not I hope I'm not dropping the ball on you right now, but IVF is not something that is uh permitted, meaning it is not embraced, it is not supported in the Catholic Church. Um, and in fact, that it is it is not morally good. Okay. Um, and we are going to spend the next however long this takes me, hopefully not too, too, too terribly long, um, uh, to explain why and how it goes against not only that foundational rule, but the basis of that foundational rule, which is the dignity of every single person's daughterhood and sonship. Okay, I am gonna give you, I feel like I keep doing this, but I am gonna give you like a forewarning of the stuff we're about to get into can be kind of dense. Um I'm I'm a little bit of a nerd uh for things like medical ethics and such, like bioethics, all of that. And so um this is this is gonna be a little bit dense and a little bit technical sometimes. Um if you need to re-listen to it, like please do. Um this is this is not something that's like super easily digested. I'm gonna do it as best I can, but do be aware that this is where it can get technical and a little bit dense and um just take a hot second to understand. So there are two types of IVF, IVF meaning in vitro fertilization, right? So there is homologous and there is heterologous. There are two different types, and neither of them are morally good. So what is we'll we'll talk about homologous first. So homologo is um homologo IVF is when both the sperm and the egg come from the couple that is intending to conceive. Homologous, it is the same, like homo, it is the same. It is the same um DNA of the couple that wants to conceive. They will conceive of their own genetic makeup, right? Just in a different fashion, um, which is the problem here. Okay, and then there's heterologous IVF. Now, this is where either the sperm or the egg or both the sperm and the egg come from someone else. So it either the sperm or the egg or both do not come from the couple trying to conceive. So this um neither IVF, neither form of IVF is good. But we do have to say that heterologous is far worse, and here's why. So um, have you ever heard of something called like a designer baby? There is just like this designer baby reality where um it it boils down to human trafficking, honestly, and there it's just like genetic consumerism. And I I'm so sorry if I'm throwing up big words. Basically, you're buying and selling um genetic makeup, right? Basically, if you go into a fert fertility clinic and you wanna you wanna do IVF and you have to go the heterologist route, um, let's say you have to um you have to use a sperm donor. Basically, what they will do is they will hand you this catalog or like binder type thing of all of the like the profiles of all of the donors whose sperm they have. And they will have pictures of them, they will have their family history, their medical history, they will have um like like their IQ, um the genetic traits, um, they do like a genome sequence kind of thing to see like what kind of diseases are they predisposed to. Do they have like certain cancer genes? Basically, in like all of these pictures and things like that, you flip through this magazine and handpick the father of your child, and you are purchasing their genetic makeup. Or vice versa, you can shop for an egg, right? Um, or you can shop for both, you know, it is that designer baby reality, it is it is consumerism, like genetic consumerism. Um, and that is also human trafficking, my friends. So again, though both types of IVF are grave, they are mortal. Um, they they are they are a mortal means of conception, mortal, not moral. Um, heterologist IVF is especially more serious uh because of the reasons I've just kind of hammered home. Now, um I uh the reality of IVF um is not something that is talked about in like the mainstream all so often. And so um I know I typically like you you typically hear like, oh, here's some fun facts. These are some not so fun facts. Um so and all of these, like I will have I will have all of my sources linked in the show notes if you want to like double check me, fact-check me, whatever kind of thing. Um, so here we go. Children conceived via IVF um by either method have one-third the chance of survival. So every two out of three fertilized embryos do not survive. Either one to the point of implantation or transfer, um, or they don't make it through gestation. So every two out of three don't make it. Um, and this this this next one comes from Alum fertility. Um, so they're an IVF clinic, and they say that statistically of it of the 12 eggs, and I just want to, okay. These numbers are not set in stone. It's not like they harvest 12 eggs from every single woman who wants to do IVF. Um, this is these are the numbers that their statistics are like based off of, or like these, these are the the numbers that come from their statistics, if that makes sense. This is like the average kind of thing. Um, so statistically, of the 12 eggs that they retrieve from a woman, they will likely end up with about eight fertilized embryos. Um, so eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. So of those four, that was embarrassing. Of those, um, there are four eggs that are just like discarded and gone. Okay. That stinks. Um, because you know, we've got limited eggs, friends. And then so we have eight fertilized embryos, and then um there's like a there's a there's a process of about five to seven days um where they they have to wait to transfer them. And so of those eight, only three to four of them will survive to the point where they can be transferred or implanted. Um and then the hope from those three or four is um that at least one of them makes it through gestation um and is able to be carried to term. So the the chance of just one healthy pregnancy via IVF is between 50 to 55 percent. It's not super promising. Um and there's there's a lot of pain that happens. Um the the egg retrieval process is incredibly painful. The the recovery process is incredibly painful. Um, that's why they try to harvest as many eggs as they can at once, just in case it doesn't work on the first try, because statistically it's not likely to. Um and also just the fact of like retrieving so many eggs uh hastens like a like an old timey word, it hastens menopause, um, which you can ask any woman who's been through menopause. Menopause isn't fun. You want to delay that as long as you can, right? Um, but so statistically, as we go back to these numbers, you started off with 12 eggs, and then you end up with eight fertilized embryos, and you hope and pray that of the three or four that survived, that one of them makes it all the way through pregnancy and comes full term and is healthy. Um so statistically, for that one child to be conceived and born, seven others were lost. Seven other embryos, seven other human beings um were lost. Now, there are times um where all of those three to four transferred embryos actually survive into gestation. Again, this isn't something that happens super, super often, but it does happen. Um, you may remember the the the old show um Octomom. That was that was very real. Um so the the greater the number of fetuses, the higher the risk of fatal complications um for mom and baby. The the there is a higher risk. So in these cases, um, especially when it happens with like nine times out of ten, you know, when it happens with IVF, um, or sometimes it's like IUI and ovulation induction and all of these things, you will end up with like quadruplets and sex templates, like you may remember John and Kate plus eight. Um so they they're the the physician will oftentimes recommend something called selective fetal reduction. And what that is, is it is abortion. Um yeah. Selective fetal reduction means you reduce the number of fetuses that the mother is carrying. So it it it's it's just literally abortion. It's like selective abortion. It it yeah. Um I did mention John and Kate plus eight. I I don't know if how many other people grew up watching that show, uh like John and Kate Gosslin. Um if you're curious, they used um they used ovulation induction and IUI. And as we know, she ended up having sex tuplets. So she had six, she was pregnant with six babies at once. Um and th praise the good Lord that they opted against any fetal reduction. Um and I I again I'm not covering ovulation induction or IUI in depth in this episode, but I do want to throw out that there is a method of doing IUI that is not only permissible, but it is actually just embraced by the church. Um and it's it's it's a bit much to speak about on the podcast. Um so if you have questions about that or um want to know more about that or anything like that, of like maybe you're interested in that, um go ahead and click that link about the question box in the show notes um and leave me your email and just essentially put that in there of like, hey, I want to know more about the the Catholic IUI method. Um uh and be sure to leave me your email and I'll be happy to to uh help you with that. So um back to the not so fun facts. Here is some data from 2021. The estimated total number of abortions in the United States in 2021 was 625,978. 625,978 abortions in the United States in 2021 that were reported. Okay, and that that comes from the CDC, and this also comes from the CDC. Um the number of patients who attempted IVF um and the number of um like based on the statistics of how many uh fertilized embryos they have, like they are able to um create, I guess, from retrieved eggs and sperm and all of that. Um it is highly, highly probable that somewhere between 1.5 and 1.8 million children conceived via IVF were never born. Um it's not something that is like gonna be on the front page of your paper by any means. Um IVF actually results in the death of so many more children than abortion in the United States alone. Whereas that abortion number is 625 plus thousand. The IVF number of lost embryos is somewhere between 1.5 and 1.8 million. That is over double in one year. Um I d I do want to say that this these the these numbers do not by any means make abortion any more acceptable or okay. Um rather it actually shows that the reality of death in IVF is much larger and a much more serious issue. And i it's just far worse than most people realize. Um in addition, as of 2023, since IVF um practices began and all of that, there are an estimated 1.5 million frozen embryos left over from patients who have utilized IVF. So these embryos, um, if they're not given a chance at life, either by their parents or by embryo adoption, again, that's a whole other thing, um, they are left in chirochambers until they either begin to slowly deteriorate after 10 years, um, or they are given over to laboratory research should the parents stop paying the storage fees. Um and there there's this there's the reality of if the parents can no longer pay the storage fees, um they have to release them to the general pool. And when they release them to that general pool, they're up for adoption by literally anyone. Um or they um are sent to laboratories for research. Um and again, fertilized embryos are literally human beings. So there are over 1.5 million human beings who have not been given a chance um to to come to fruition in life. Um now, embryo adoption, uh it's something that the church has not outright permitted, but nor has she completely condemned it. Um so I do want to take a second to say that if you or someone you know is interested in embryo adoption, um, and whether or not it's something that is morally good in your case, please, please, please contact your Diocese and ask to speak with their designated moral theologian and request some sort of counseling with them. And they will be able to walk with you through that decision-making process. Yeah. Because again, it's not just like I want to get the church's green flag on this. I want the red tape lifted. I don't want to feel guilty for doing this. It's not necessarily that. It's like, is this truly what is good for not only me and my spouse, but for this child? Um, and I couldn't go into a rabbit hole with that, but this is not the time and place for that. So um there there are some other spiritual implications when it comes to IVF, aside from the obvious, that um piety is you're probably like, wait, what? Piety, right? So piety is a gift of the Holy Spirit, um, but it is perfected by the virtue of justice. So we all know um at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayers, during the preface, this one, this specific wording comes from the preface of the Eucharistic prayer for various needs. Number two, it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere, to give you thanks, Lord, Holy Father, creator of the world, and source of all life. So piety. Um, piety is often called reverence. So we use the gift of piety by adjusting our posture, right? Piety and posture. And we don't mean just physical posture, like yes, it is pious and it is reverent to genuflect, to kneel, to bow, all of these things. Yes, that is pious, that is reverent, and that shows in a physical way, right? But that is for naught if we are not mentally and spiritually pious and reverent. So, as the Eucharistic prayer preface says, God is the creator of the world and the source of all life. We are his creation. He gives the gift of life and we receive it. Just because we can take the gift of life into our own hands doesn't mean we should. So I have a fun little analogy to kind of explain this. And um, this one makes the most sense to me because I used to be a realtor and I mean I still have my real estate license, but that's neither here nor there. But so this is what it is. Suppose you've just gotten married, and you and your spouse are buying your first home, and your dad has offered you a gift of funds to cover the down payment. Okay, that happens all the time, right? But here's the thing: what's the difference between you stealing his checkbook, forging his signature, and depositing it into your own account versus letting him write the check and give it to you himself? I don't know about y'all, but my dad would be pretty ticked off. Understandably so. He would feel very disrespected. Um, there would definitely be like a huge break of trust. Um, and me and my dad would not really be on good terms. Don't know that we'd be on speaking terms. Um and I I don't think that's just my dad. I think that's um every father ever. Um, so there is that element, like I said, of disrespect, of loss of trust, and your damn your relationship is just deeply damaged, right? Gifts are meant to be given and received, not taken and damaged or destroyed. Right? He gives you the gift out of a place of relationship and love. Don't destroy that very relationship and love that he is giving this gift to you from by taking it out of his hands. So I have a few last thoughts. Um, one of them being that uh many pro-life organizations, well-meaning, well-intended, they use this phrase of uh we want to protect life from natural conception to natural death. So with that, there's a nuance. Uh, we have to realize that while we know God intended for all life to come forth naturally as a gift, we do live in a world where millions of people are not conceived naturally. This does not mean that they have any less dignity than any other person. So um, rather than saying we we stand for life from natural conception to natural death, um for for for the time being in this fallen world, we have to say um we f we fight for the dignity of life and the protection of life from conception to natural death. Now, um another thought is there is this phrase that I love. I love, love, love, love, love. And it's God can write straight with our crooked lines. Um, but there is also the reality of it's just the truth that the ends do not justify the means. So again, like if you're gonna get the down payment funds anyway, what's like why not steal it? You know, it's like no, that the ends, the ends don't justify the means. Um, Christopher West always uses the example of like, what's the difference between killing grandma and letting her die naturally? Murder. Um, if so, again, the ends don't justify the means. So, yes, the the those conceived via IVF are still human persons. They have true human dignity. They are not any less than anyone else, um, whether or not how they were conceived, um, the the circumstances of their conception, whatever it may be, um, that they are we all have equal human dignity. And while it does not mean that it is okay for us to take the gift of conception into our own hands outside the marital embrace, um, it also means that we have to recognize the humanity of the millions of people who are discarded and killed by the practice of IVF every single year. Um, and it is only growing. So, um kind of a heavy episode. Kind of a heavy episode. Um it may it makes me think of um in Genesis, whenever Adam and Eve hear the voice of the father and they hide. Um and God's like, Adam, Eve, yo, where yet? And um Adam and Eve, they're like, We hid because we were naked. You were naked. And the father says, Who told you that you were naked? And oftentimes um we hear those verses in kind of like a tyrant voice of like um just like anger, right? Of like, who told you that you were naked? Like, you know what did I tell you you could get in the pantry and get those snacks? Just of like a disappointment of like a of a an upset parent, right? Um but I think oftentimes he wants us to read those words um and hear the sorrow of his heart of like, no, I wanted to give you a good gift. Um, and like I'm hurt because you've hurt yourself and you don't realize it. And you don't realize how deep it goes. But I see how deep it goes. Um, and so it is just a question of pain and like, no, like I didn't want I didn't want this for you, I wanted better for you, and I still want better for you. Um so I c I kind of wanted to end um with the first reading um from Jeremiah that is read on the feast of the holy innocence, um, and just kind of let let that let that be the sign off today. Thus says the Lord A voice is heard and Ramah Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. Thus says the Lord, keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord. They shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, says the Lord. Your children shall come back to their own country. Holy innocence, pray for us.