1. Reproductive Technologies

3. Reproductive Ethics You’re the Counselor!!—Case 6.1
How would you counsel a couple who had come to you for advice on dealing with infertility?
Emotional Factors
Moral Issues
I would highlight the emotional factors involved here—don’t underestimate the pain involved for infertile couples—it is real and very deep. I try to suggest things not to say to them-such as “have you considered that God might not want you to have children?”—which may be true but is not especially comforting to the couple.
You could also use the scenarios presented on pages for discussion starters—any one of those could be expanded into cases for further discussion.

4. Different Technologies to Make a Baby
Inter-Uterine Insemination
By Husband
By Donor (also egg donation)
In Vitro Fertilization Family
GIFT (Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer), Z(zygote)IFT, IVF
Surrogate Motherhood
ICSI (Sperm Injection)
Spelled out on pages

5. Types of Surrogate Motherhood
Genetic--surrogate provides egg and womb
Gestational--surrogate only provides womb
Commercial--done for a $10,000-50,000 fee plus expenses
Altruistic--done for expenses only

6. Theological Foundations
Medical Technology in Theological Perspective
Dominion Mandate (Gen. 1-2)
Impact of the Entrance of Sin
Stewardship over Creation
Place of General Revelation and Common Grace
Must Evaluate the Uses of Technology
Spelled out on page 162.

7. Theological Foundations
Genesis 1-2--The Context for Procreation
Permanent, monogamous, heterosexual marriage
Novel ways of procreation in the OT
Surrogacy
Levirate Marriage
Polygamy
Other “violations” of the norm in Genesis 1-2
Divorce

8. Theological Foundations
Use of Gen. 1-2 by NT Authors
Romans 1
I Timothy 2
I Cor. 11
Matt. 19
Conclusion---Genesis account of creation carries great weight with NT authors.

9. Theological Foundations
Sacredness of Human Life--Being in the Image of God
Continuity of Personal Identity from Earliest Points of one’s life
Psalm 139, Psalm 51 (Exodus 21: 22-25)
Doctrine of the Incarnation
Embryos and Biblical Teaching
Major holdover from Christianity has to do with the grounding for human dignity.

10. Moral Status of Fetuses and Embryos
Thesis: Personhood begins at conception
Common views of a person assume a continuity of personal identity from the earliest points of pregnancy
Personhood is a matter of essence, not function. Personhood is not a degreed property.
The difference between an embryo in the lab and and fetus in the womb is one of location

11. Moral Status of Fetuses and Embryos
All adult persons are the result of a continuous process of development that begins at conception.
There is no ontologically or morally relevant break in the process from conception to birth.
Thus, one is a person from conception forward.

12. Theological Parameters--Summary
Sanctity of Marriage
Sacredness of life from conception onward
“Be fruitful and multiply”
Rescuing the vulnerable
Adoption as the metaphor for our relationship with God
Technology a qualified good
I use the idea of fence-posts in the reading to develop this idea. Since there is not much that is directly addressed to these issues, the broader theological principles function as boundaries, within which there is freedom to act. But once a person/couple steps outside the fence posts, they are outside the parameters of biblical teaching.

13. Catholic Reproductive Ethics
Key distinction: assisting vs. replacing normal sex in marriage
Inseparable connection between the “unitive” and “procreative” aspects of sex
“it is never permitted to separate these different aspects so such a degree as positively to exclude either the procreative intention or the conjugal relation.”
See the discussion of this on pages

14. Catholic Reproductive Ethics
Menopause??
Scripture treats the unitive element of sex as a sufficient end (I Corinthians 7, Song of Solomon)
Rhythm Method of birth control could compromise this separation.
Genesis 1-2 require procreation in the sphere of marriage, not sexual relations.

17. Case 6.2--for Discussion Couple married 4 years.
Man infertile due to untreated mumps as a kid.
Wife wants a sperm donor so she can “have her own child.”
Husband is uneasy about having a procreative “pinch hitter.”

18. Cases for Discussion Couple married for 6 years.
Married when older so started trying to conceive immediately
Trying for 4 years.
Physician recommends an egg donor since wife is in her early 40’s.

19. Questions About Specific Technologies
Problems with the IVF Family
Disposition of Leftover Embryos
Selective Termination of Pregnancies
Problems with Surrogate Motherhood
Is it the sale of children?
In gestational surrogacy, who is the mother?
Potential legal problems
Contested Custody
Genetic Abnormality
The specific issues with IVF are covered on pages This is presuming that the gametes come from husband and wife.
The surrogacy material is explained further on pages The potential legal problems refer to what happens when the surrogate wants to keep the child, and what happens when there’s a genetic abnormality discovered through prenatal genetic testing.

20. Surrogacy Case-Case 6.3
Couple married for 10 years, trying for 6 years
Conceived through IVF--triplets.
Miscarried the triplets and had massive uterine hemorrhage.
Underwent emergency hysterectomy
They have 5 embryos left in storage from IVF
They want to hire a surrogate to carry them

22. The Brave New World Human Procreative Cloning Artificial Wombs
Fetal Egg Donors
Gender Selection
Designer Embryos
Postmenopausal Pregnancies
Brain Death and Pregnancy
Posthumous Procreation
See the sidebars on page 180 for further discussion of two of these more extreme applications of reproductive technologies
I would suggest closing the discussion by going back to the scenarios presented on pages and discussing how students would handle each of these scenarios.