Can Embryos Be Baptized?

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Thousands of frozen embryos exist, and mothers sometimes learn they will miscarry before the child’s heart has stopped beating. Does the Church recognize a valid form of baptism for embryos or those in the womb?
 
CrystalMayner66 said:
Thousands of frozen embryos exist, and mothers sometimes learn they will miscarry before the child’s heart has stopped beating. Does the Church recognize a valid form of baptism for embryos or those in the womb?
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It’s undefined. We don’t know that it can’t be done, but we’re not exactly sure how to do it correctly.

My personal guess is that there is a way to do it.
 
dshix said:
It’s undefined. We don’t know that it can’t be done, but we’re not exactly sure how to do it correctly.

My personal guess is that there is a way to do it.
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A person I know miscarried her baby and attempted to baptize him when she delivered him. She doesn’t know exactly when he died, but if he was capable of being baptized, she wanted to make sure he was. I’m not sure if that was the “correct” thing to do, but I can understand it.

There is a baptism of desire, that may apply to one’s unborn children. We don’t know. Baptism is very important. But God is also merciful and loving, and we can trust in His goodness.
 
pensmama87 said:
A person I know miscarried her baby and attempted to baptize him when she delivered him. She doesn’t know exactly when he died, but if he was capable of being baptized, she wanted to make sure he was. I’m not sure if that was the “correct” thing to do, but I can understand it.

There is a baptism of desire, that may apply to one’s unborn children. We don’t know. Baptism is very important. But God is also merciful and loving, and we can trust in His goodness.
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That’s absolutely the best thing she could have done. I agree that any time the situation is in our hands, we should try to baptise the child even though there isn’t a defined formula for baptising a child still in embryonic form.

My response mainly had to do with the mechanics of it not yet being defined by the Church.
 
CrystalMayner66 said:
Thousands of frozen embryos exist, and mothers sometimes learn they will miscarry before the child’s heart has stopped beating. Does the Church recognize a valid form of baptism for embryos or those in the womb?
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How can one in the womb be baptized? For baptism, water must flow over the baptized.

As God is Love and merciful, such an act is unnecessary. Pray to God and leave it to His Mercy and Love.
 
SyroMalankara said:
How can one in the womb be baptized? For baptism, water must flow over the baptized.

As God is Love and merciful, such an act is unnecessary. Pray to God and leave it to His Mercy and Love.
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Very true. Sometimes I think people get a little to overzealous about the faith.
 
dshix said:
That’s absolutely the best thing she could have done. I agree that any time the situation is in our hands, we should try to baptise the child even though there isn’t a defined formula for baptising a child still in embryonic form.

My response mainly had to do with the mechanics of it not yet being defined by the Church.
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The soul may still be present for a certain period of time after apparent death, so it would seem that a conditional baptism would be in order, as in: “If you are capable, I baptize you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

And you would break the amniotic sac if it’s still in place, so that water may flow over the body.
 
There is no rubric for baptism of embryos, so if the Church has never seen fit to institute one, methinks it was never considered necessary.

IMINWHO

ICXC NIKA
 
Can Embryos Be Baptized?
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Yes.

“Embryos” are people, and as such they are appropriate candidates for Baptism when the proper situation arises.

Our friend had a tubal pregnancy.

A Catholic Priest “scrubbed in” at the time of surgery.

The Priest Baptized her baby (while it was in an “embryo” classification of growth stage).

Their Baptized baby died associated with the surgery.

Heartbreaking in that sense for the parents.

But great joy too in another sense knowing they have a “family intercessor” for them in Heaven who will someday greet them as they hopefully enter Heaven too.

God bless.

Cathoholic
 
This is a little sad piece of Church history and it’s about babies, so some folks here may not want to read this post.

Okay. The reason that the Church does not baptize embryos or attempt to baptize children still in the womb. Turn back now.

Back in the 1600’s-1700’s, as scientists and priests got more interested in the mechanics of babies being born, some very pious doctors and priests thought that it would be a great idea to baptize babies before birth – because after all, it was fairly common for many babies to die during birth.

What they found out was the same thing people have found out every time when this is tried, back in early Christianity and still today. It is very very difficult to baptize a baby in the womb in any way, no matter how careful, which will not cause miscarriage, drown the baby, cause interior infections in the mom, etc. Death rates for both mom and baby go way up.

So there is a rule in canon law that the Church does not baptize babies until they are all the way born. We just don’t.

If a baby dies before he can be born and baptized, then there is such a thing as conditional baptism.

But whatever happens, that is the Lord’s decision; and we should trust that God can take care of His own in these cases. We also have to trust that the Lord Who counts the sparrows knows all about what should be done for frozen embryos, miscarried babies, and aborted babies, better than we do.
 
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