Steven Bozza, MA
Couples seeking a child will go to great lengths to conceive one. They will bear the often humiliating forms of testing and treatment which tear away at their dignity. They will accept financial burden which they will carry for years. They will endure the stress which enters their marriage and their marriage bed. They will even risk the health hazards associated with fertility drugs and therapies. They do this with the idea that it will all be worth it when they are able to carry this child in their arms. But is it worth it? In most cases, it is not. Couples become blinded to these realities in their quest for a child until they can’t ignore them any longer.
The human person is called " to fill the earth and subdue it and to have dominion over creation." Genesis 1:28 The fulfillment of this vocation comes by virtue of being good stewards of the environment and their finances.
Human persons are called to perfect creation to more aptly serve their needs. At the same time, they are called to leave to future generations a clean and healthy environment.
Human persons are not spectators to God’s creative plan. They are active participators. The Sacred Scriptures give concrete examples of this. For instance, the creation of the human race was one act. Adam and Eve were then commanded to be fruitful and multiply. God did it once. Humanity is to continue to fill the earth with more human persons. Another example of this reflected through Scripture is our very salvation. God did not redeem the world with a twinkling of His eye. He did it by becoming human in the person of Jesus who, through His humanity, redeemed the world. The environment was given to human persons in all it’s raw beauty and majesty. Through the properties of one’s soul, the gifts of creativity, wisdom and art, the human person, by the work of his or her hands is called to refine creation and leave within it a human face. Unfortunately, through sin, the environment no longer cooperates with humanity. The perfection of creation is most often combined with the destruction of it, and so, man must find ways to overcome natural difficulties including illness and disease.
Man resembles God by the authority given to him to have dominion over the physical world, which includes the human body. In a fallen world, the human body is prone to illness and physical compromise. Treatments and procedures used to overcome these difficulties are meant to restore what original sin robbed. In cases of infertility, original sin has robbed some of the ability to bring forth new life. From an objective standpoint, there is no moral problem with pursuing infertility treatment per se, provided that the dignity and integrity of the human persons involved is not destroyed. However, subjective realities, those that are very intimate to the individual person, can make acceptable medical infertility treatments immoral. For instance, do the medications or surgeries involved present other health problems which can become debilitating or life threatening? Do they cause behavioral problems which produce stress within the marriage or workplace? Does the cost of the medications or surgeries present an undue burden on the family finances? All of these factors must be weighed when discerning the morality of these infertility treatments. Taken from Begotten Not Made, The Family Life Institute, Pages 33 & 34. Begotten Not Made, by Steven Bozza, MA, |
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In the Couple’s Heart