Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART)

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Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART)
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Donum Vitae Gift of Life (1987)
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Catechism
2377 Reproductive Technologies dissociate the
sexual act from the procreative act. The act
which brings the child into existence is no
longer an act by which two persons give
themselves to one another, but one that entrusts
the life and identity of the embryo into the
power of doctors and biologists and establishes
the domination of technology over the origin and
destiny of the human person. Such a relationship
of domination is in itself contrary to the
dignity and equality that must be common to
parents and children.
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Perverse Church?

• Fear of Pregnancy

• No Babies for the Infertile

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Science Needs Values
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Whose life matters?
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I demand my rights!
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Right to a child?

• On the part of the spouses, the desire for a
  child is natural it expresses the vocation to
  fatherhood and motherhood as inscribed in
  conjugal love. This desire can be even stronger
  if the couple is affected by sterility which
  appears incurable. Nevertheless, marriage does
  not confer upon the spouses the right to have a
  child, but only the right to perform those
  natural acts which are per se ordered to
  procreation. (II8)

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Children are Gifts

• A true and proper right to a child would be
  contrary to the childs dignity and nature. The
  child is not an object to which one has a right,
  nor can he be considered as an object of
  ownership rather, a child is a gift, the
  supreme gift and the most gratuitous gift of
  marriage(II8)

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Lives of Service

• sterility is certainly a difficult trial
  spouses who find themselves in this sad
  situation are called to find in it an opportunity
  for sharing in a particular way in the Lords
  cross, the source of spiritual fruitfulness.
  Sterile couples must not forget that even when
  procreation is not possible, conjugal life does
  not for this reason lose its value. (II8)

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Two Fundamental Values

• The life of the child called into existence
• Implications for the parentage of the child
• Treatment of embryo
• 2. The special nature of the transmission of
  human life in marriage
• Conception should be direct result of mutual
  self-giving
• Spouses should become parents only by each other

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Rights of the child

• The child has the right to be
  conceived, carried in the womb, brought into the
  world and brought up within marriage it is
  through the secure and recognized relationship to
  his own parents that the child can discover his
  own identity and achieve his own proper human
  development.
• The parents find in their child a
  confirmation and completion of their reciprocal
  self- giving the child is the living image of
  their love, the permanent sign of their conjugal
  union, the living and indissoluble concrete
  expression of their paternity and maternity.
  (II2)

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Human Life is Not Animal Life

• From the moment of conception, the life of every
  human being is to be respected in an absolute way
  because man is the only creature on earth that
  God has wished for himself and the spiritual soul
  of each man is "immediately created" by God his
  whole being bears the image of the Creator. Human
  life is sacred because from its beginning it
  involves "the creative action of God" and it
  remains forever in a special relationship with
  the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is
  the Lord of life from its beginning until its
  end no one can, in any circumstance, claim for
  himself the right directly to destroy an innocent
  human being. (Intro, 5)

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Meaning of Marriage Exclusivity
The bond existing between husband and wife
accords the spouses, in an objective and
inalienable manner, the exclusive right to become
father and mother solely through each other.
(II2)
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Wrong because artificial?

• These interventions are not to be rejected on
  the grounds that they are artificial. As such,
  they bear witness to the possibilities of the art
  of medicine. But they must be given a moral
  evaluation in reference to the dignity of the
  human person, who is called to realize his
  vocation from God to the gift of love and the
  gift of life. (Intro3)

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Replacing nature vs. Assisting nature
If the technical means facilitates the conjugal
act or helps it to reach its natural objectives,
it can be morally acceptable. If, on the other
hand, the procedure were to replace the conjugal
act, it is morally illicit. (II6)

• A medical intervention respects the dignity of
  persons when it seeks to assist the conjugal act
  either in order to facilitate its performance or
  in order to enable it to achieve its objective
  once it has been normally performed. (II7)

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Assisting Nature

• Timing of intercourse
• Nutrition e.g., limit alcohol, smoking
• Stop excessive exercise
• Hormones
• Fertility Drugs
• Surgery
• Wear loose-fitting boxer shorts

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Incidence of Infertility

• In the US there are 60 million women of
  reproductive age
• In 1995, about 1.2 million, or 2, had had an
  infertility-related medical appointment within
  the previous year
• An additional 13 had received infertility
  services at some time in their lives.  
• Additionally, 7 of married couples (2.1 million
  couples) reported that they had not used
  contraception for 12 months and the woman had not
  become pregnant.

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Babies R Us
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Artificial Insemination or Intrauterine
Insemination (IUI) Facts

• Male needs to masturbate
• Costs 300-700 per attempt
• Works better if combined with fertility drugs
• No national statistics kept on success perhaps
  5-25
• Most women undergo 3-6 treatments before
  achieving pregnant or trying another method

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In Vitro Fertilization
Ovum Sperm Gestator
Wifes Husbands Wife
Wifes Husbands Surrogate
Donors Husbands Wife
Donors Husbands Surrogate (donor?)
Wifes Donors Wife
Wifes Donors Surrogate
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2002 ART DATAOVERVIEW

• 428 ART clinics in the United States in 2002
• 391 ART clinics submitted data
• 115,392 cycles were reported
• 33,141 live-birth deliveries
• 45,751 live babies born

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Canadian IVF Researchers Admit 80-90 of
IVF-Created Human Embryos Doomed to Die

• OTTAWA, November 26, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
  In announcing an In Vitro-Fertilization (IVF)
  breakthrough, researchers at the Ottawa Health
  Research Institute (OHRI) have admitted publicly
  that only 10-20 of human embryos created by the
  process survive to pregnancy. The percentage of
  embryos that actually make it to birth is
  significantly lower.

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Selective Termination
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Excess Embryos
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Confusion Galore
Mike Keefe, The Denver Post, 3/26/03
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Who is my Mommy?

• 1989Luanne and John marry
• 1989-94 They try various infertility treatments
• 1994 Using donor sperm, donor egg, and a
  surrogate, they achieve a pregnancy
• 1994 One month before baby Jaycee is born, John
  files for divorce and refuses to pay child
  support
• Surrogate sues for custody
• John ruled not legal father Luanne ruled not
  legal mother
• Egg donor denies she gave permission for use of
  egg
• Sperm donor denies he gave permission for use of
  sperm
• 1999 Court of Appeals gives custody to Luanne
  and rules that John is legal parent

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Increased Incidence of Birth Defects

• 200,000 infants have been born in the United
  States through artificial reproductive
  technology.
• 101 babies of 1,138 were born after IVF with
  birth defects compared with 168 of the 4,000
  naturally conceived babies -- 9.4 percent and 4.5
  percent, respectively
• The defects include clubfoot, shortened limbs,
  heart malformations and anomalies of the sex
  organs.
• Minor birth defects that could be repaired by
  surgery, such as extra fingers and toes
• Babies more likely to be underweight and
  premature at birth.

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NaProTECHNOLOGY
Dr. Tom Hilgers
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Embryo Adoption
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Snowflakes
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Cowardly New World