Question about IVF, baptism, and Godparents

[bluehen95]

Good morning, I have a few questions and I would very much appreciate your answers.

1. I am a practicing Catholic again, my wife is not. We both want our kids (now 2yo) to be baptised in the Catholic Church. They were conceived through IVF (and they are beautiful), I was not practicing at the time and I never even bothered to look up the Church’s position on it, and I have confessed this. Is any reason they can’t be baptised?
2. We would like a married couple, friends of ours, to be Godparents for both children. The wife is a practicing Catholic, the husband is not Catholic. What are the rules here? Can she be the Godmother for both kids? Would he be a “sponsor” or something like that, not the Godfather but some symbolic responsibility, or is there no role for him to play?
3. This is unrelated to baptism but tied to Q1. We are committed to raising our children Catholic. As mentioned above, they are IVF kids. The only thing that I could not accept is them hearing a homily in which the priest taught against the “evils” of this process. I know you cannot guarantee anything, but how likely is this to be come from the pulpit?

Thank you!

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

1. I am a practicing Catholic again, my wife is not. We both want our kids (now 2yo) to be baptised in the Catholic Church. They were conceived through IVF (and they are beautiful), I was not practicing at the time and I never even bothered to look up the Church’s position on it, and I have confessed this. Is any reason they can’t be baptised?

No, there is no reason they cannot be baptized. As long as you promise to raise them in the Catholic faith then they are able to be baptized.

1. We would like a married couple, friends of ours, to be Godparents for both children. The wife is a practicing Catholic, the husband is not Catholic. What are the rules here? Can she be the Godmother for both kids? Would he be a “sponsor” or something like that, not the Godfather but some symbolic responsibility, or is there no role for him to play?

If the husband is validly baptized then he may be a “Christian Witness” to the baptism. A Christian Witness can only be admitted to that role alongside a Catholic godparent. As long as his wife qualifies to be a Godparent then the two of them can fulfill those roles at the baptism.

1. This is unrelated to baptism but tied to Q1. We are committed to raising our children Catholic. As mentioned above, they are IVF kids. The only thing that I could not accept is them hearing a homily in which the priest taught against the “evils” of this process. I know you cannot guarantee anything, but how likely is this to be come from the pulpit?

I can’t speak to the preaching style or subjects of clergy that I do not know. However at one time or another all of us hear homilies about things in life that are uncomfortable for us.