Can an "in vitro" baby be refused baptism?

[catmay]

Friends of mine, new converts and not well catechized, conceived twins by in vitro fertilization. One baby died before birth. Their local priest refused to baptize either child. The parents are crushed and cannot understand why God would reject their children, even if they had sinned.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Your friends are projecting their disappointment with the priest onto God, perhaps understandably so, but erroneously. It is not God who is rejecting their children but the priest who has refused baptism. The case for baptism for each of the children is different though, so let’s look at them separately.

• If there was no doubt that the twin who died was dead by the time the priest was importuned for baptism, then the priest was right to deny baptism on the basis that the dead cannot receive the sacraments. The child could have been given an emergency conditional baptism immediately after delivery, on the hope that the child might still be alive even if medical science could not detect signs of life; but the child could not be baptized once it was absolutely certain death had occurred.
• The circumstances of conception are not an impediment to baptism. Baptism should not be refused to children conceived by in vitro fertilization, anymore than it should be refused to children conceived by other objectively evil means (e.g., rape). However, if the priest has reason to believe that the child will not be raised Catholic, then baptism can be deferred to a later time. This priest might have thought that parents who flout Catholic moral teaching may not be in a position to raise the child Catholic, thus justifying a deferral of baptism. If, however, the parents are badly-catechized new converts, it would seem more just to make the occasion of the baptism of their child an opportunity to catechize them in the Catholic faith rather than risk further alienating them from the Church.

If the priest will not reconsider his position, I recommend that the parents contact their diocese for assistance. They may also wish to consult with the St. Joseph Foundation, a Catholic apostolate that deals with matters of canon law.