church teaching on Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART)

1. Donum Vitae: Gift of Life (1987)
lobo’s

2. Various procedures now make it possible to intervene
not only in order to assist but also to dominate the
processes of procreation. These techniques can
enable man to "take in hand his own destiny", but
they also expose him "to the temptation to go beyond
the limits of a reasonable dominion over nature".
They might constitute progress in the service of man,
but they also involve serious risks. (I)
1.BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND
THE TEACHING
OF
THE CHURCH
lobo’s

3. ………………The rapid development of technological
discoveries gives greater urgency to this need to
respect the criteria just mentioned: science
without conscience can only lead to
man's ruin. "Our era needs such wisdom more
than bygone ages if the discoveries made by man are to
be further humanized. For the future of the world
stands in peril unless wiser people are forthcoming".
2. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AT THE SERVICE OF
THE HUMAN PERSON
lobo’s

4. Which moral criteria must be applied in order to
clarify the problems posed today in the field of
biomedicine?
The answer to this question presupposes a
proper idea of the nature of the human person
in his bodily dimension.
For it is only in keeping with his true nature that
the human person can achieve self-realization
as a "unified totality":and this nature is at the
same time corporal and spiritual.
3. ANTHROPOLOGY ANDPROCEDURES
IN THE BIOMEDICAL FIELD
lobo’s

5. lobo’s
Pope John Paul II forcefully reaffirmed
this to the World Medical Association
when he said: "Each human person,
in his absolutely unique singularity, is
constituted not only by his spirit, but
by his body as well. Thus, in the body
and through the body, one touches
the person himself in his concrete
reality. To respect the dignity of man
consequently amounts to
safeguarding this identity of the
man 'corpore et anima unus', as the
Second Vatican Council says
(Gaudium et Spes, 14, par.1)
3. ANTHROPOLOGY ANDPROCEDURES
IN THE BIOMEDICAL FIELD

6. 4. FUNDAMENTAL CRITERIA FOR A
MORAL JUDGMENT
The fundamental values connected with the
techniques of artificial human procreation are two
lobo’s

7. Two Fundamental Values
1. The life of the child called into existence
• Implications for the parentage of the child
• Treatment of embryo
lobo’s

8. Two Fundamental Values
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
lobo’s

9. Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART)
lobo’s

10. Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART)
lobo’s

11. • Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is the
technology used to achieve pregnancy in procedures such
as fertility medication, artificial insemination, in vitro
fertilization and surrogacy.
• Fertility therapies where eggs and sperm are
manipulated
• Involve surgically removing eggs from women and
combining them with sperm in the laboratory
Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART)
lobo’s

12. General History of ARTs
o 1790 ― First artificial insemination in humans
o 1934 ― First animal IVF by Gregory Pincus
o 1944 ― First human IVF by John Rock
o 1978 ― First IVF baby born,
result of abortionist Patrick Steptoe’s efforts
with Roberts Edwards
Both Pincus and Rock were OC pioneers
lobo’s

13. CCC.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.
Catechism
lobo’s

14. lobo’s

15. Whose life matters?
lobo’s

16. “I demand my rights!”
lobo’s

17. Right to have 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.
( DV II:8)
lobo’s

18. Children are Gifts
A true and proper right to a
child would be contrary to the
child’s 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…(II:8)
lobo’s

19. 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 Lord’s 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.” (II:8)
lobo’s

20. Rights of the child
lobo’s

21. 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. (II:2)
lobo’s

22. Human Life is Not Animal Life
lobo’s

23. 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)
lobo’s

24. 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. (II:2)
lobo’s

25. 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. (Intro:3)
lobo’s

26. Assisting Nature
• Timing of intercourse
• Nutrition: e.g., limit alcohol, smoking
• Stop excessive exercise
• Hormones
• Fertility Drugs
• Surgery
• Wear loose-fitting boxer shorts
lobo’s

27. 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.
lobo’s

28. In Vitro Fertilization
Ovum Sperm Gestator
Wife’s Husband’s Wife
Wife’s Husband’s Surrogate
Donor’s Husband’s Wife
Donor’s Husband’s Surrogate
(donor?)
Wife’s Donor’s Wife
Wife’s Donor’s Surrogate
lobo’s

29. 2002 ART DATA—OVERVIEW
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
lobo’s

30. 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.
lobo’s

31. 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.
lobo’s

32. Donum Vitae: Five Guidelines
to Safeguard against Abuses
(1) All assisted reproductive procedures
should be performed upon married couples
only, in order to provide the best
environment for the child [II,A,2].
(2) The wife must contribute the egg and
the husband must contribute the
sperm, in order to avoid what is called
“technological adultery” *II,A,2+.
lobo’s

33. Donum Vitae: Five Guidelines
to Safeguard against Abuses
(3) Masturbation must not be required,
since it is an abuse of the sexual
faculty [II,B,6].
(4) Fertilization must take place inside the
woman's body in order to preserve the
unitive aspect of marriage [II,B,4,c].
(5) "Spare" embryos must not be discarded,
frozen, or experimented upon, or killed
[I,5].
lobo’s

34. “Selective Reduction” or “Enhanced Survival
of Multifetal Pregnancies“ (ESMP)
“Using ultra-sound to locate each fetus, the doctors insert
a needle into the chest cavity of the most accessible fetus
and place the needle tip directly into the heart of the
baby. Potassium chloride is then injected into the heart
and the heart is viewed on the ultrasound screen until it
stops beating. Even at 9 weeks, 3 of the 12 fetuses
selected for elimination presented problems. The heart
continued to beat and the procedure had to be
repeated” *NEJM, 1988].
lobo’s

35. What Price Perfection?
“Doctors who participate in in-vitro fertilization
should be present at the birth of all of their
babies so that they may terminate the
[newborn] baby's life should it come out
grossly abnormal.”
― Nobel Prize winner James Watson.
lobo’s

36. At this Rate, It Will Soon Take
a Village to Conceive a Child!
DS (donor sperm): 2 fathers and 1 mother
DO (donor ovum): 2 mothers and 1 father
DE (donor embryo): 2 fathers and 2 mothers
SET (surrogate embryo transfer):
1 father and 2 mothers; or
2 fathers and 2 mothers; or
2 fathers and 3 mothers
Parthenogenesis: 1 mother and no father.
lobo’s

37. The Media Gets it Right
on Surrogate Motherhood
“If surrogacy ever becomes a widely practiced market
transaction, it will probably make pregnancy into just
another dirty task for the working class, with wages
driven down and wealthy couples hiring the work out
because it's such a hassle to be pregnant.”
― The Wall Street Journal.
lobo’s

38. Morally Acceptable ARTs
Start off charting cycles with NFP!
Micro-surgery (70%-80% successful).
Gamete (either sperm or sperm+egg) intra-
fallopian transfer (SIFT and GIFT, no definitive
ruling by the Church).
Low tube ovum transfer (LTOT). Relocation of an
egg past the damaged portion of the fallopian
tube so that fertilization occurs naturally.
lobo’s

39. lobo’s
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