Thursday, August 9, 2012

Religion (Catholicism) and IVF

I am an agnostic. I was raised Catholic and have studied Budhism. I've taken away the same basic morals from both: don't be an asshole. All the specific stuff gets too selfcontraductory and political. Basically I try to be kind to sentient beings (I'm not doing well on the vegetarian front, but I do try to only eat local, organic, grass fed, and humanely butchered animals), be honest, appreciate what I have, and share with others.

I decided a long time ago niether I, nor any of the major religions, knew the exact thruths of the universe, and I decided to stop trying and just live my life ethically the way I saw fit.

I can't understand how religious people (specifically catholic) can go through with IVF (even though it is not condoned by the church) and then choose not to do selective reduction when multiples pose a threat to the mother and/or babies. They always say something like "god gave us these babies" or "it's in god's hands." I don't get it! How can u going against your church and having an advanced, expensive medical procedure where risk of multiples is high be god giving u multiples.

The story I was reading was one where they opted for 4 embryos to be transferred. I filled out the consent form that expressly warns you about risks of that many and the possibility of needing reduction to protect the mother and babies lives. Why would u go out of your way (& god's way for that matter) to have this risky procedure only to then decide it's in God's hands. WTF?! IVF is not natural. It doesn't just happen! I personally know two women (both catholic) who did this and their babies suffered and still suffer from their choice to transfer 3 & 4 embryos and then choose not to reduce when they found all 3/4 implanted. I can't understand why they would go against their religion to do the IVF but then stand behind it when it came to giving their babies a chance at a healthy life.

Also since the catholic church specifically prohibits IVF, can we still be catholic? Can my IVF children go to catholic school?

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