In a Catholic Theology class, we were taught that IVF is wrong for 2 reasons: 1) It separates procreation from the procreative act and 2) Spare embryos are destroyed in the process. **Question 1**: I get #2, but I don't really get #1. I don't really see the point of mentioning #1 in this context. **#2 is already sufficient to reject IVF right?** I actually find this really annoying. It's actually like this in Wikipedia too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation#Religious_response **Question 2**: Suppose there was a way to separate procreation from the procreative act while embryos were not destroyed in the process. For simplicity, let's say there are no bad side effects to doing such and focus solely on the separation of procreation from the procreative act. **What is "wrong" with that?** Oh sorry. I was unclear. Why is procreation without the procreative act wrong if say couples are either a) unable to perform the procreative act, b) unable to procreate while performing the procreative act or c) have a sufficiently long history of not procreating while performing the procreative act? Also, in the first place, why would anyone want to have biological babies without sex? Isn't it usually the other way around? If they would want bb w/o sex, then most probably they CAN'T have bb w/ sex...I think?

I may have a couple of questions here but it's basically the same subject. My first question: does the Catholic Church see any moral goodness in having a baby through [*In vitro* fertilization (IVF)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation) ? Even though there is let's say 17 embryos frozen still but the couple bring one new life and cares for that life(nothing we can do about it). Can we say that God brings something good out of something bad like this(talking about new life as good) or this is just not the case since the whole case is just wrong? Romans 8:28(New International Version) > And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who > love him, who have been called according to his purpose. The other question is why the Catholic Chuch doesn't talk about iVF in higher urgency. Let's say Pope should mention something about it in every conversation with media because from the perspective of the Church this is just such an evil. Does the silence have anything to do with "John 8:11" (New International Version). > "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you,"Jesus > declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

We all know that IVF fertilization is against the catholic teaching. Recently I found out that when the treatment is carried out, some of the embryos are frozen for the future implantation in case if the couple want more children. My question is: **Do the catholic church allow couples to access the sacraments if they have children from IVF**? And if the couple realize the wrongness of IVF and have embryos frozen, **what do they have to do with them according to the teaching**? Let them die or try to implement them in woman's womb? Both, I see as wrong decision.

I was researching a different question and saw that some people find that In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is something that should be avoided on the basis of religious grounds. Does anyone know what these reasons are? I'd like to know if these religious arguments against IVF are biblically based. If so, what passages do they use to support this argument? (This seems especially strange to me since pregnancy wasn't fully understood back then, let alone IVF.) Specifically, I would like the Catholic stance on this.

I met a Catholic family two years ago that utilizes in vitro fertilisation (IVF). I am inclined to believe that IVF is a completely moral practice in situations where a couple may be infertile. I think this particular couple told me that they use IVF not because of infertility issues, but because they have a right risk of conceiving children with mental disabilities. I don't remember the exact details, but I think they said that multiple eggs are fertilized and whichever one presents the least genetic risk of retardation is implanted in the mother's uterus. If this wasn't the case, then they may have said that another woman donates her eggs for IVF. The first alternative sounds a lot like abortion to me, and thus would be a mortal sin. The second alternative does not seem as bad, but it still feels morally questionable. This leaves us with three different IVF procedures: 1. A single egg is fertilized from the mother due to infertility. 2. Multiple eggs are fertilized from the mother and the "best candidate" is kept. 3. A different woman donates eggs for fertilization. Even if I am misremembering the circumstances from my anecdote, I believe these to all be real IVF procedures used in the world today. What is the Catholic Church's guidance on these procedures?