In-Vitro and Catholics

[yessisan]

I have an uncle who was brought up and is still Catholic. He married a Catholic woman but after 18 yrs of trying to conceive, they weren’t able to. My uncle’s wife was told by doctors her ovaries were too hard so she couldn’t get pregnant (despite of fertility drugs), so they had given up on the idea of having children and were thinking of adopting.

Somehow they found out about in-vitro and went ahead and did it. My aunt became pregnant and gave birth to a wonderful boy. 2 years later they tried in-vitro again but it failed. A few months later they conceived on their own (no medical help) and had their 2nd boy. 2 years after that they tried fertility drugs and had their 3rd and last boy.

So, my question here is if this was acceptable for a Catholic couple? I know the in-vitro was morally wrong but would it be morally justifiable since it helped my aunt to conceive w/o medical help (referring to in-vitro) after their first baby?

I asked this to a Catholic Institute instructor, but she only said each and every case is different so she couldn’t tell me if it was right or wrong.

What about my cousin? What is of him since he was conceived this way? Is it ok that he was an in-vitro baby? What are the teachings of the CC regarding the children that were conceived by in-vitro?

Any answers and references will help.

 

[FCEGM]

I have an uncle who was brought up and is still Catholic. He married a Catholic woman but after 18 yrs of trying to conceive, they weren’t able to. My uncle’s wife was told by doctors her ovaries were too hard so she couldn’t get pregnant (despite of fertility drugs), so they had given up on the idea of having children and were thinking of adopting.

Somehow they found out about in-vitro and went ahead and did it. My aunt became pregnant and gave birth to a wonderful boy. 2 years later they tried in-vitro again but it failed. A few months later they conceived on their own (no medical help) and had their 2nd boy. 2 years after that they tried fertility drugs and had their 3rd and last boy.

So, my question here is if this was acceptable for a Catholic couple? I know the in-vitro was morally wrong but would it be morally justifiable since it helped my aunt to conceive w/o medical help (referring to in-vitro) after their first baby?

I asked this to a Catholic Institute instructor, but she only said each and every case is different so she couldn’t tell me if it was right or wrong.

What about my cousin? What is of him since he was conceived this way? Is it ok that he was an in-vitro baby? What are the teaching of the CC regarding the children that were conceived by in-vitro?

Any answers and references will help.

If it’s morally wrong, it’s never morally justifiable. This was discussed on a previous thread which will give you links to sites offering further information on the topic:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=141503

 

[1ke]

So, my question here is if this was acceptable for a Catholic couple? I know the in-vitro was morally wrong but would it be justifiable since it helped my aunt to conceive w/o medical help after their first baby?

No it is not acceptable.

Yes, it is morally wrong in all instances. It is not justifable.

I asked this to a Catholic Institute instructor, but she only said each and every case is different so she couldn’t tell me if it was right or wrong.

This person is incorrect. The Church has a clear, unambiguous teaching regarding what procedures are acceptable and what procedures are not.

You can find this in the Catechism starting at paragraph 2373 and in the document Donum Vitae.

What about my cousin? What is of him since he was conceived this way? Is it ok that he was an in-vitro baby? What are the teaching of the CC regarding the children that were conceived by in-vitro?

The Church has no “teaching” regarding the children of in-vitro, just as they have no teaching of children born out of wedlock.

Children are not responsible for their parents’ misdeeds.