The Catholic Church, a religious denomination, has long held that legitimate intentions do not justify resorting to morally unacceptable means for birth control. However, there is widespread dissent among Catholics in Western Europe and North America regarding the issue. The Roman Catholic Church only allows “natural” birth control, which involves having sex during the infertile period of a woman’s monthly cycle.
Pope Paul VI recently promulgated his encyclical on birth control, which condemns all methods of contraception except rhythm as against the will. This has led to a series of paradigm shifts, with large majorities of Catholics reporting using at least one form of artificial contraception. The Catholic church hierarchy opposes all forms of artificial contraception, but 98 of Catholics in the United States have used some form of birth control at some point in their lives.
The Orthodox Church has no dogmatic objection to the use of safe and non-abortifacient contraceptives within the context of married life. They are absolutely against abortion and abortifacient methods of birth control, but have never pronounced against the use of other methods. Most conservatives, including strict old-school Catholics, are against some forms of contraception, like the pill.
Eastern Orthodox believers, on all sides of the issue, tend to believe that contraceptive acceptance is not adequately examined, and that any changes in contraceptive practices must be done with respect for the order established by God.
📹 If Contraception Is Immoral, What Should Catholic Couples Do?
If contraception is immoral according to Catholic teaching, what is a couple supposed to do? Just have 15 kids? In this video we’re …
Can I receive communion if I have an IUD?
The use of an IUD does not negate the validity of sacraments, as these are established prior to an individual’s conversion to Catholicism. The Church does not mandate surgical procedures as a prerequisite for conversion. It is advisable to consult with a priest in order to gain a deeper understanding of the process. Please assist in maintaining the content’s advertising-free status.
What percent of Catholics use birth control?
Among women at risk of unintended pregnancy, 69 are currently using a highly effective contraceptive method, including sterilization, the IUD, or the pill. Another 14 (15 among Catholics) rely on condoms, and 5 (4 among Catholics) use other methods, such as withdrawal. Only 1 of all women at risk of unintended pregnancy (2 of Catholics) use natural family planning, the only method sanctioned by the Catholic hierarchy.
Eleven percent of women at risk of unintended pregnancy are not using contraception, despite being sexually active and not trying to become pregnant. Some women may feel ambivalent about pregnancy, have sex infrequently, or think they are unable to become pregnant. Additionally, some may not be able to afford contraceptives.
Despite religious background, women use contraceptives to help them time and space their childbearing and achieve healthier pregnancies. Research shows that planned pregnancies involve healthier behaviors and outcomes, such as more likely seeking and receiving prenatal care, breastfeeding, and avoiding smoking or drinking during pregnancy. Contraception also helps avoid pregnancies that are too closely spaced, preventing adverse outcomes that can negatively affect a child’s development.
Does the Catholic Church allow IVF?
The Church has a strong stance against in vitro fertilization (IVF), stating that it involves the destruction of embryonic life, distorts the meaning of the conjugal act, and treats the child as a product rather than a gift. Since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, around eight million IVF babies have been born. The Church’s main teachings on IVF are Donum Vitae, Evangelium Vitae, and Dignitas Personae.
However, the Church continues to advocate for life, focusing on the human embryo, the least of our brothers and sisters, as outlined in Matthew 25:40. The Church aims to treat each human embryonic life with dignity and respect, as outlined in Matthew 25:40.
What religions do not allow contraceptive contraceptives?
Various Christian denominations have different views on contraception, ranging from accepting birth control to allowing natural family planning. The Catholic Church has historically opposed artificial contraception, while the Orthodox Church permits its use. Non-Catholic Christians were initially taught contraception until 1930 when the Anglican Communion changed its policy. Mainline Protestant groups later accepted modern contraceptives as a matter of freedom of conscience.
Conservative Protestants hold one of the three positions, depending on their denomination. The Catholic Church supports natural cycles to regulate births, dating back to the first centuries of Christianity. Artificial contraception is considered to not fulfill the ideal of married love, while natural family planning (NFP) is in full accordance with Christian doctrine. Pope Pius XI explicitly condemned birth control in his 1930 encyclical, Casti connubii.
Why did the Catholic Church oppose birth control?
This special issue explores the transnational history of contraception, focusing on the Catholic Church as both a local and global institution. The Vatican’s position on contraception has remained unchanged since the publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which banned all artificial contraceptive methods for Catholic spouses. The encyclical came at a critical moment in the history of birth control, as the question of contraception had become the topic of heated debate, particularly with the advent of the contraceptive pill in Europe and America from the early 1960s.
The Catholic Church’s stance on contraception has continued to have a global impact, with responses to the fiftieth anniversary of the encyclical generally muted. However, some opposing statements, such as the publication of a report by pro-choice advocacy group Catholics for Choice, highlighted the ban’s impact on global health, such as efforts to contain HIV/AIDS in Africa.
The articles in this special issue cover examples from western and east-central Europe, East Africa, and Latin America, exploring the complex interplay between users and providers of birth control in contexts marked by the prevalence of the Catholic religion and/or strong political position of the Catholic Church. In countries examined, such as Brazil, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, and Rwanda, Catholicism was the majority religion during different moments of the long twentieth century.
Using transnationalism as a perspective, the special issue seeks to broaden our understanding of the role of experts and activist groups in the promotion of family planning while paying attention to local and national nuances in Catholic understandings of birth control. It highlights the ways in which birth control-related activism in and beyond the medical profession promoted debates about contraception and abortion laws in and beyond local contexts of Brazil, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, and Rwanda.
The contributions shed light on the motivations behind involvement in birth control activism and expertise, its modus operandi, networking strategies, and interactions with men and women demanding contraceptive information and technology. Through oral history and print sources, the collection of articles seeks to illustrate “ordinary” men and women’s practices in the realm of reproductive health.
Do Catholics believe in any form of birth control?
Contraceptive acts, including sterilization, condoms, spermicides, and birth control methods, are considered separate from the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act. In Catholic health institutions, only procedures that do not separate these dimensions can be used to help couples conceive. The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (5th edition) state that Catholic health institutions should provide instruction on responsible parenthood and natural family planning to married couples and medical staff.
Direct sterilization of men or women is not permitted in Catholic health care institutions, but procedures that induce sterility are allowed when they directly treat a serious pathology and a simpler treatment is not available.
Is a vasectomy a sin Catholic?
The Catholic Church opposes all artificial birth control methods, including birth control pills, condoms, vasectomy, and sterilization. This official position, as stated in Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, is based on the principles of marriage and marriage. The Church declares that direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, is not a lawful means of regulating the number of children. Direct sterilization, whether permanent or temporary, is also condemned by the Church. This position aligns with the first principles of a human and Christian doctrine of marriage.
Can Eastern Orthodox use birth control?
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has recently introduced a new view on contraception, allowing certain contraceptive practices within marriage for the purpose of spacing children, enhancing marital love, and protecting health. Eastern Orthodox believers believe that contraceptive acceptance is not adequately examined and has become tied up in identity politics, with the more accepting group accusing the categorically opposed group of Roman Catholic influence.
Many Orthodox hierarchs and theologians worldwide praised Humanae vitae, with some teaching that marital intercourse should be for procreation only, while others hold a view similar to the Catholic position, which allows Natural Family Planning on principle while opposing artificial contraception.
What churches don’t believe in birth control?
Humans have been trying to control fertility for centuries, starting with primitive societies practicing infanticide and abortion. When women understood the advantages of conception control, they tried to use contraception. In the 4th century B. C., Plato and Aristotle advocated a one-child family, and Greek medical literature reported a hollow tube inserted through the cervix into the uterus and a potion as contraceptives. Islamic physicians had much knowledge about conception control.
Attitudes toward contraception changed over time, with Saint Augustine condemning contraception even among married couples in the 5th century B. C. The condom emerged in the early modern period, but were usually worn to protect against disease. By 1880, contraceptives and spermicides were advertised, and the IUD joined existing contraceptives in 1928. Judaic law requires husbands to fulfill their wives’ sexual needs, separate from their duty to procreate.
The Roman Catholic church forbids contraceptive use, while some Protestant denominations have allowed contraceptive use. Differences in husband-wife communication, sex roles, access to contraceptives, and traditional family values will have more of an effect on contraceptive use and fertility than theological barriers or the social class of religious groups.
Is birth control a mortal sin?
In 1930, the Roman Catholic Church banned artificial birth control methods, including condoms, diaphragms, and cervical caps, as they blocked the natural journey of sperm during intercourse. Douches, suppositories, and spermicides were also banned. Interfering with God’s will was considered a mortal sin and grounds for excommunication. The primary purpose of intercourse was for the sacred act of procreation, leaving only abstinence or the church-approved rhythm method. However, the rhythm method was unreliable and placed a heavy strain on marital relations.
With the arrival of the birth control pill in 1960, many believed the Church was about to change its position on birth control. The Church was in the midst of reform, and it seemed possible that the Vatican might bend on birth control. Since 1957, Church law allowed women with irregular cycles to take the Pill to regularize their cycles and better practice the rhythm method. Approval of the contraceptive pill was believed to follow.
Can Catholics use condoms?
The Roman Catholic Church has historically maintained a stance of opposition to the use of condoms for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, citing their contraceptive effect as a primary concern. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI posited that the widespread use of condoms could exacerbate the situation.
📹 Catholic Teaching on IVF and Contraception Explained
For many people, the Catholic Church’s teaching on in vitro fertilization and contraception is a hard one, but it is in concordance …
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I don’t see a logical, reasonable, or spiritual case for saying that NFP or abstinence is the only permissible form of contraception . Either it is all wrong or there are are a variety of permissible forms of contraception. I am not a catholic and I plan to get a vasectomy before marriage(while abstaining from sexual acts before marriage). I actually agree that it would be wrong if the mindset was “God wants me to have children, but I don’t wanna, so I am going to do what I can to thwart His will”. There is truly no 100% effective form of contraception since God could miraculously enable a conception if it His desire to do so. So it seems what it comes down to is “Are we willing to accept God’s will if He proves that He has other plans for us”. I don’t see any difference between NFP vs using a condom or other forms of non-lethal forms of contraception(those which prevent conception rather than killing someone who has been concieved). I watched the whole article and I don’t follow the logic, it still seems like flawed logic. Maybe a slightly more credible argument could be made for zero planning with a philosophy of, but it doesn’t seem logical to make a moral distinction between NFP and other non lethal contraceptive strategies. So many people perusal this article probably believe that NFP and abstinence are the only permissible forms of contraception. As I said, I plan on getting a vasectomy. Unless probability is a relevant factor, I don’t see what the morally relevant difference is.
There are many dangers and drawbacks to the various forms of contraception. Immorality and scriptural proscription are not two of them. The Church is dead wrong on this matter, and its endorsement of NFP betrays its profound error. A couple who willfully abstains during the fertile days of her cycle renders the sexual act sterile as effectively as some proscribed forms of contraception. The couple undertakes an act which is not open to the creation of life. The dissembling mental gymnastics of theologians on this issue reveal that the Church speaks not from an expression of divine will but out of cynical institutional interest.
Why compare the natural sexual acts in fertile and unfertile moments to euthanasia and natural death? I do not understand such analogy. If Natural sexual acts are never against conception, the question is: if it is legitimate for the married couple to engage in the act during infertile moments? What is the meaning of such act during an infertile moment? Can we objectively say that the meaning is simply that the couple is “against conception”, and as such it is sin, as an act of will? Or (objectively) only God and the couple have access to the meaning of the act of will?
Your analogy about euthanasia and natural death is really bad. You are not hurting anyone in using a barrier method or pull out (I’m against any hormonal contraceptives, might be abortifacient), both this and NFP are unlikely to produce a child but still can happen. Same thing and same spirit of contraception
Thank you for your article. My wife and I are discerning a call to join the Catholic Church (currently Anglican) but I have to admit this is the biggest hang up for me, so I appreciate my comment being read sincerely and from pastoral eyes. I assure you this is not meant to be trolling at all. I had a vasectomy half a decade ago as we were done having children. We both still feel that way. I understand that in catholicism I could in theory be in good standing if I were to have this reversed (though by this point chances of success are low), but I struggle with why I need to do that. After each of our pregnancies my wife struggled with significant mental health issues. Obtaining a vasectomy was in many ways a mercy for my wife. I felt not only at peace with this but as though it was the most loving thing to do for my wife. I struggle with recognizing this act of love as an act of sin. I do recognize that many things that people could construe as love are actually sin but I struggle to see how a Christian husband laying down his own desires for the well being of his wife is a sin. When searching online for the Catholic perspective to this I find NFP as the alternative. I struggle with this. As a medical professional I am aware the NFP when done correctly is more effective than condom use. So why then is NFP preferred? It seems that God would have better chances, so to speak, in make a condom fail than in making NFP fail. In other words, it would seem that NFP is more of a barrier to “the potential of life” than condoms are.
Given that desire is highest for a woman( for obvious reasons ) when she is most fertile, it is women that must bear the lions share of self deniial. It’s relatively easy to refain from sex when you least desire it. For a faithful woman with good fertility in the modern world that does not want to have a large number of children, she will only be having sex at her most fertile times for a very few short periods (when she actually desires it most )in her entire life. Not saying this as an argument against what Christopher has said above in any way but am I wrong in this analysis. I know people will say that is what is required and give more good reasons why this is the case but at the end of the day, am I correct in this one thing when all is said and done and there is no sugar coating it ?
Working in Healthcare sort of, I think it is important to recognize that there are reasons other than avoiding pregnancy why women may need to use contraception. There are conditions such as Menorrhagia that I have learned a bit about where it is technically not necessary, but kind of rediculous to say so. Maybe there are other treatment options, but if your doctor says to use contraception, especially for conditions unrelated to pregnancy, I don’t see where the sin would result from. That said, I appreciate that you mention that even married couples should abstain from sex sometimes as even Saint Paul himself talks about it… I forget where
This is the only thing that keeps me from Catholicism. It makes no sense to me to get married, unless I want to be in an ultra poor family, completely stressed with defect babies from late in age births, or never touch or look at my wife ever again until she’s old for fear of being tempted. It’s easier to be a priest and never be intimate then live with a wife, where you’re tempted every day. Clearly from Jesus’ story God will find a way if he wants it to happen and contraception isn’t 100% effective either. I do take the side of no abortions and never got one or will ever because I do think that’s wrong.
If this works, how come catholicism is notorious for having huge families? In a perfect world abstinance would work. If every couple had as many children as they possibly can, we would use up the world’s resources. I think this stance is incredibly harmful. You have people having huge families that cannot afford them. They follow the one command but not the other. I consistantly see huge families that are almost always catholic. I could also argue that God gave us contraception so women could live longer and provide their children with better lives. In my family history on both sides there are huge families (Back before contraception). There were 2 wives because of the 1st wife dying from child birth and then remarriage. Last im pretty sure a lot Catholics arent following this one . I see a lot more small families than i used to in the catholic church. Just a thought. I have yet to find this commandment in the Bible.
Both methods intend to prevent birth and therefore natural family planning is not fully open to life unless the couple accepts that their act could still possibly result in a child, even if less likely than in the fertile part of the cycle. As you yourself said, it is not 100% effective. Therefore out of 1000 couples practicing it, 10-30 will produce a child each month. Across a full year, this still ends up with approximately 120-360 children that these 1000 couples did not plan for. And unless they plan on giving the child up for adoption, they will have to raise it.
I’m not Catholic, and I have never once in my life heard pastors talk about this issue.. and the more I listen to you talk, combined with perusal modern post-pill society and comparing it to the past, the more convinced I am that you are right. People are much less happy having promiscuous but sterile sex. We’re meant to be fruitful and multiply. The people who own all the land and lease it out instead of sell it, the people who hold all the money but lend it at interest instead of generously giving it away — these are the same people who run all the businesses but encourage and even pay for contraception (and now abortion) instead of giving maternity leave. If we loved God instead of money, we would have a more family-friendly economic system. The suffering that my generation is experiencing, from the poverty, the lack of hope for the future, the futility to work, to the depression, anxiety, sexual frustration, regret, and guilt — it all started with feminism and the pill. Women gained nothing but cats, wine, and an entire closet full of empty egg cartons. Men gained nothing but shame and meaninglessness. Women can no longer nurture, and men can no longer provide. So we invert the roles of the sexes and seek to change our bodies to match our confused minds. Or we become sexually deviant instead. There’s no hope for our society, in the sense of strictly practical day-to-day living, if we can’t change our minds and turn the ship around. Anti-natalism is the ideology of the Antichrist.
These kind of rules aren’t realistic and don’t take into account unique circumstances. For me getting pregnant would seriously endanger my life. So I absolutely need to use multiples forms of birth control and can’t go relying on NFP. Should I be abstaining until my child bearing years are over because I was cursed with multiple serious illnesses? Or should I just die? It’s articles like this that make me want to walk away from religion.
I dont think it is as simple as “God didnt want it to result in a child.” Sometimes God just allows things to happen. God doesnt want many things to happen, but they still happen. There are pregnancies that are results from rape. I would think that God just allowed the rape and pregnancy to happen, not that God wanted them to happen. Just like many instances of sex outside of marriage, be it either fornication or adultery. God doesnt want those things to happen, but youre gonna tell me that, if those situations do happen, the He does want some of them to result in pregnancies? Again, I would say that He allows the preganancies, not necessarily want them. But, in the end, I am not 100% sure, which is why I am perusal articles like these, looking for answers. Maybe we have to trust that God will provide. But then we are also not supposed to test God. So would be an act of faith to keep having babies? Or would it be irresponsible? One of us should go on a long fast trying to get this question answered by the Holy Spirit. I would, but my job requires physical activity from me, and I feel weak after a day of fasting, worse the second day, better the third day, but still weak. Maybe I should take some leave to do it.
This is a terrible take. Sex plays a VITAL role in a romantic relationship, simply look at the amount of divorce that occurs due to lack of sex, look at the amount of adultery that results from either partner denying sex to the other. And even worse, look at the amount of kids that suffer financially because they’re parents didn’t use contraception. And then to simply say oh just don’t do it, or just wait until your wife becomes infertile is simply dumb, most women become infertile well into there 40s and guys begin to have erectile dysfunction problems, sex drive general is not the same, you mean to tell me that not having those moments of intimacy with your partner wont damage the relationship in some way? Im not say that the relationship is all about sex but it sure is a big part of it
This is hard when women have their most desire during the most fertile time. This is spoken pregnant lady sick in bed for almost 3 months though. My faith is being tested. Praying for Gods Strength. Strength from Jesus and Mary 🙏 We do natural family planning but my husband is not Catholic and it has been hard on him. We had intercourse during a risky time. The amazing thing is I ovulated 3 days early on my 33 days to morning Glory devotion day. It really gives a new meaning to selfless and fighting selfish feelings too
I am catholic and I wish I would’ve known this before my tubal laceration at 26. Just that I was unmarried and had intercourse “on my non fertile days” and still got pregnant so I didn’t want to keep bringing kids into a broken family. And now 3 years later and still not married. But no longer sinning at least.
So, thought i had when you mentioned the couple waiting until menopause. That would also be wrong, as God would be moving you to have intercourse with your wife throughout your marriage, and it would also break his command of be fruitful and multiply. So arguing that if you were to suck it up, dismisses the premise of the argument that as those called to the vocation of marriage, we should be fruitful and raise children to fulfill our vocation.
We had the kids (we went forth multiplied ) we wanted, then I got snipped, we didn’t like the fact we had to abstain for 12 -15 days month ( that is the fact a mans sperm can survive up 5 -6 days in a a women ) The other 15 days once she was done ovulating my wife wasn’t that interested in sex – asking for sex ever time ( sometimes more like begging )? the sex was usually one sided and not very good. And by the way, thin walls never stopped us, if it does your just not doing it right – if there’s a will there’s away.
We are big believers in NFP. 😆 Sorry, can’t help it, but we’re expecting our third baby right now with our current youngest being only 9 months. This third baby is an oopsie baby. The only reason why we conceived this little gift is because I wasn’t paying attention to my LH test strips which had expired while I was pregnant for our 2nd. Well, learned my lesson there. 😆 But I can’t help to think, all I had to do was pay attention while opening the test strips and I could have easily looked down and see the expiration date. But I didn’t and now there’s new life growing within me. Ha! My husband and I, after our shock, just realized, if the Holy Spirit wanted us to notice it we would have and so all this was God’s plan. OK, amen. We promised God on our wedding day that we’d be open to receiving children from Him with joy and love. This is just proof of that. Jesus, we trust in you. Thanks for this gift! 😆 Here we go….
I understand the only time the church allows a married couple to use, in this case condoms, is if one of them is H I V +. But what happens if the woman has a health situation where if she gets pregnant, she could die? it could happen either during pregnancy or labor, and it is confirmed by a doctor. What would the church say about that? Would they have to evaluate ach and every individual case?
Could you please answer me two questions and regards to this topic? I understand that it is a form of contraception to use the withdrawal method. Is it equally as bad to have intercourse and not the action and it’s entirety it’s a situation arises that takes you away from the act itself such as a baby waking you up during the middle of the night and you have to get up in four hours and you haven’t slept the past 3 to 4 days.? I would assume that purposefully not completed. The act would be de a form of contraception, but I would like to hear your thoughts on that please and your thoughts as well if there is a reason why you can’t continue.? you very much and I appreciate your time
Modern pleasure-loving man does not want to hear this word: Every intimate marital sexual union that has no possibility of producing a child is actually a form of sodomy. Sex for pleasure alone, no matter with whom and how it is performed is sodomy. This is also a shadow picture or type of a spiritual reality about our relationship of covenant marriage union with our Head, our King, our Messiah, if it does not result in a conception, form and birth Christ within your spiritual deep inner womb, it is either a virtual union or a union with a false christ, another spirit, thus it is a vain religion for thrills and an emotional high, just like having sex for a dopamine hit and not for reproduction.
think in adoption,. In Central America, Latin America and Africa where woman have 3,4,5,6 children usually from different fathers, this woman alone or even marriage can`t provide even food to their children entire families live on streets, or inhuman condition and usually the mother is pregnant again. I will kind you remember there every child you bring to the world may end in hell and there is no way you can`t guarantee they will go to heaven so you will be held accountable for their eternal torture in hell and damnation for the children you bring to the world.,,n
This was one of the first articles I watched, as a Protestant, regarding Catholic Church teaching. I watched this article sometime between June 25th, 2019, and June 29th, 2019. It was divine providence that Father Mike recorded this article in May 2019, allowing me to find it 1 month later. Since I was a young girl, I remember having a curiosity and deep appreciation for how God designed man and woman, and how He designed sex. I finally decided to search “Catholic teaching contraception” and this article was the resource I got. Praise be to God. After perusal, my idea of sex was changed forever. My view of the Catholic Church was also changed forever–the Catholics just might have something figured out. “Well, I don’t really care what else Catholics say, I’m taking this with me in life.” Fast forward to April 2022 and I am 10 days away from Confirmation. Praise be to God!
I originally clicked on the thumbnail because I wanted to know more about what the church teaches about contraception. My questions have definitely been addressed in that regard. The IVF portion caught me completely off guard. Being an IVF baby, hearing that IVF is not an accepted practice in the church made me feel like a mistake for a split second. Father, thank you for reiterating to me that someone like me is NOT a mistake and that I AM made in the likeness of God.
In my thirties, I expressed grief to my ob-gyn that I might not find a husband in time to have children. She advised me to freeze my eggs for IVF at a later date, and I said I wouldn’t do that because the Church teaches against it and because it didn’t sit well with my own conscience. She said that she was a Catholic and she knew of no such teaching by the Church. It’s distressing that so many people in a position to know better haven’t informed themselves on this subject. I actually think that even without knowing the teaching on IVF, a Catholic with very basic catechesis should be able to connect the dots. Thank you for speaking the truth in love, Fr. Mike.
My wife had Cancer. We could never have children. Now in our 50’s. She joined the Catholic Church. I was already Catholic, and went back also. After a year we were helping a family member, she was homeless and pregnant. After she had the baby. She left without saying a word. I found him screaming. God Blesses you in ways you could never imagine. We are now parents and PRAY for my Niece that she is well and comes to GOD !!! Thanks Be To GOD!!!
This is a very real issue for my wife and I and it has been incredibly hard. I had cancer as a teenager and our chances of conceiving were very small. For six years we prayed and tried and asked the Lord for peace with however He was blessing us. It was a huge temptation to try other ways of conceiving like IVF. And even though it was hard, i’m glad we didn’t. After 6 years we have our beautiful baby girl and she is the greatest blessing. Thank you for speaking truth into this sensitive issue.
I cannot thank God enough for people like you who give up everything, especially in today’s time, to be shepherds for the Lord’s flock. Your reward is a hundred fold. Praying for all of you Priests and Pastors who choose the hard celibate path. Thanks a million! God is your companion, His sheep your children!
I’m Catholic and have an IVF 19 year old daughter. I was not practicing my faith at the time, but instinctively felt uneasy about forcing life into existence. The view I embraced was that God would not have allowed this medical knowledge to be gifted to doctors unless it benefited mankind. I realize now that was my way of making peace with the decision to move ahead with it. That being said, I absolutely have no regrets, I have a beautiful, kind and loving daughter that I know was meant to be here. But in hindsight, I recognize now that we were not in a faith-based marriage and the fallout from that led to an abusive relationship and ultimately divorce. In all of this mess though, I realized the missing piece was my relationship with the Lord, which has now been restored through repentance and forgiveness. I have gone to confession to unload a lifetime of ego driven sin and guilt, which was incredibly freeing. I attend Catholic mass regularly and humbly try to be a devout and loving follower of Jesus Christ. My daughter is a typical 19 yr old, but she lives in a home saturated with the love of God, she knows she is a child that belongs to Him and I know He loves her more than I can imagine.
Wow. You touched my soul so deeply on this subject. My husband and I were sadly victims of infertility. I KNEW that I was made to be a mother – I was your PERFECT mother and I literally went to a dark place with GOD about it. Thanking my husband and my family for their prayers, because I was able to come back from there and return to believe that God has a plan. Our plan was to ADOPT. That was back in 1998, my KIDS (MY KIDS) are now 25, 23 and 19 . . . I can’t imagine my life without them and I am THE PERFECT MOTHER. But I KNOW that God had them for me all along . . . HE just wanted me to LEAVE IT TO HIM . . . and when I finally did, within a few weeks, we got a call from our caseworker about the two older ones. My 19 year old, came from the same mother, so they are all half siblings . . . but she was my newborn baby that I NEVER THOUGHT I would have. I AM A MOTHER, MY HUSBAND WOULD SAY, HE IS A FATHER . . . they were chosen from GOD for US . . . people still say, “wow, your daughters look so much like you and your son is the splitting image of his dad.” I am humbly complimented, because they are beautiful and they were GIFTS FROM GOD.
You are amazing Fr. Mike, thank you so much for this article. My heart goes out to you and everything you do. It’s become part of my morning routine to sit down with your talks at breakfast and get filled with your wisdom and humor. I love it so much. Thank you for being such a gift with putting yourself out there like this for us to receive these answers to so many of our questions. God Bless you my friend, you are doing great things.🕊
I agree with you that nobody “deserves” a child. Some people think just because they want one they are entitled to a child. On a different note, it’s strange how so many people (unmarried or not) that are terrible parents and/or don’t want children easily procreate and others that would make great parents can’t have them. What is that about?!
I really appreciate your recognition that this isn’t just a head issue, but a heart issue for many people. I think just by mentioning that, it can give perspective to a person, where we aren’t just looking at ourselves through the lens of our emotions, but through the lens of our whole person. The heart is just as important as the head as the body and as the spirit. I think it can be hard to accept teachings that strive to give our whole selves well-being when there is such an emotional implication.
Wow! He explains everything so beautifully, that it’s the live version of when you are reading a book and you just can’t put it down. For some people who stare at a lens as they are talking like in this article, it’s very difficult; but he does it in such a way that you’re convinced that he’s speaking to you and only you as as if speaking to you one-on-one.
Thank you for this! This strengthens me because my husband and I can’t have children without IVF. I do believe that life begins at conception and here where I live they fertilize much more eggs than needed for implantation. The rest will be put to freezer where anything can happen to them. If something bad happens to them, destruction, scientific experiences, or implantation in another woman’s womb anywhere on this planet, I would share responsibility in that. Not only that but also God may ask me account in the next life and I may loose eternal life. I seek the kingdom of God first. It is tough and lonely to say the least but I put my trust in God that he will help us through this. I refused IVF without even knowing that catholic church is against it.
Wow…… the point about how the embryos are treated as disposable and it’s connection to life beginning at conception is something that I had never even thought of before (how is that possible? lol). I love the way that you explain things so simply yet dive so deeply at the same time. You truly have a gift for teaching, thank you!
My husband and I have had a hole in our heart for over seven years now. We did succumb to iui and ivf and I’m not proud to say it was mainly because people asked about it and society expected it as the next step. All six treatments and procedures were unsuccessful although we did ensure that the little babies (embryos) all had an opportunity to grow but unfortunately they didn’t implant. We were insistent on that point as there was no way that we would leave them behind. I have realised the error of judgement and confessed. We have since been seeing a NaPro doctor and have found out I have endometriosis. We hope that because of the surgery we will conceive soon. I think the hardest thing for couples in our situation is the what-ifs the when and the why. If we knew that there was no chance then at least we can move on. I always think back to the article Fr Mike made about God’s ‘master’ plan and wonder about my place in the world and if maybe this cross of ours is for the greater good in some way. God have mercy on us and grant us your salvation. God Bless Fr Mike and all my brothers and sisters in Christ ✝️ 🙏🏻 ✝️
l’m Catholic and conceived my 2 children via IVF. My belief is that God gives spirit into the children he wants to have born. From 13 blastocysts, only 2 grew into children. Our children are also part of God’s gift and love. Women undertaking IVF have immense faith, hope and love. When you think about it, God is the penultimate IVF specialist. IVF is as much a miracle and testament to life, as is organ transplant.
I think this is a great explanation. When I finally understood this teaching though it was from a slightly different angle. Marriage and sex are kind of like an icon of God’s love. It’s a total gift of the self to another and a total receiving of the other. So if you use something to suppress or block your fertility, you are basically saying to your husband or wife, I love you so much! Everything except your pesky fertility…. This sounds weird but I think of it kind of like bulemia. It’s this desire to have but not have at the same time. Not accepting fully what the person gives, wanting the taste but not the calories. Wanting the pleasure but not the chance of a baby.
This is a difficult subject as a Catholic especially for those of us who have not and never will receive the gift of a biological child despite wanting children very much. I could have done the IVF route in my 30s as a single woman, but in my heart I knew that God had a plan for my husband and I. I was not married until i was 40, so time was critical if we wanted children. So many people asked why we didnt do IVF and for us it was the cost factor, being in our 40s, and then the thought that in our desire to have a child that we would have a child who had a horrible disability or some strange genetic disorder. The thought of burdening a child like that weighed on my mind greatly. In the adoption and foster care system children really are commodities to be bought and sold to the highest bidder or the couple with the “right home” the “right stuff” rather than the couple who is right for that child. When people ask us about children, I just say that it was not in Gods plan for us to have our own biological children, but we give love and guidance to so many of our friends and family’s children.
I can relate to what you said about “not getting it, until it finally clicks.” Two years ago, my husband and I decided we were ready to start a family. I knew that there were people out there who weren’t able to conceive but I never thought that that percentage while include us. I had offhandedly asked my sister if she would be a surrogate for me in the chance that we wouldn’t be able to have a baby. I had heard of that before and I thought what a noble thing that was–though I learned later, like Father Mike did, how disordered that was in God’s plan for us. Anyways, 2 years later and no little bundle of joy of our own but…oh the many graces that God has showered upon us during this trial has been the greatest of blessings and beyond our imagination and understanding. I came into the Catholic Church last year being the greatest of blessings. I definitely would not have if I had gotten pregnant because I would have been all about the baby. God second, baby first, would have been my priorities. But God had a better plan for us, in that during our infertility struggles, God revealed his truths to us. And one of those truths was, children are a gift…but not everyone gets that gift, and that’s ok. He will not leave us broken and we will find peace and comfort through Him. Suffering is not bad, because Christ suffered for us and look at all the good that came out of it. God has given me faith, hope, love, and an amazing husband. I couldn’t have asked for more and certainly don’t deserve it.
My husband and I are infertile. We tried fertility treatments (not IVF) to no avail. We considered adoption, but couldn’t afford the fee. So we don’t have any living children. I had two very early miscarriages, so we have two in Heaven, but none here. It is hurtful when people say that children are a blessing and a gift from God. It’s not that I don’t believe that, because I do believe it. But then I have to wonder why God didn’t bless us with the gift of a child. It’s not fair. People who don’t even want kids can have kids. People who abuse and neglect kids can have kids. Why would God send kids to people that were going to hurt them and not send them to people who would be good parents like us?
I would like to share this in hopes it helps others. When my wife and I were very new in our marriage, we learned we would not be able to conceive…as her tubes had been destroyed by endometriosis. I remember the confusion and devastation we experienced vividly. To make a long story short, after much discussion, prayer, and decernment, we decided to do invetro. We both were cradle Catholics, recipient of Catholic education, received the sacrament of matrimony, and knew the teachings on sex…protective and uniting. We did not see invetro as a separation of the two…we saw it as an “alternate means” to the same thing…as this was a way to bypass the damaged tubes and we were doing it together. We had also made the decision that we would harvest once, implant at the pace recommend by the medical team, and accept what happened. We harvested eggs once, seven eggs fertilized, and we transfered twice…the first time 4 and the second time 3. No children were born. We figured that God was saying this was to our path. Over the path of the next 11 years our two adopted sons came into our life. Neither of us ever felt wrong…I still don’t. My wife died about 5 months ago. I feel in my soul she is in heaven. However, I have no feeling or message that seven children are in heaven waiting for me to meet them. If there are, I will be overjoyed to meet our kids. I support the teachings of the Church on the subject, but, the Church also teaches each of us must follow our conscience and what we believe us right.
My mother had IVF about 10 years ago and had my little brother.. We just became Catholic a year ago and did not know IVF wasn’t supported by the church. Last year, my little brother received his first communion; Me and my mother received our confirmation last January. Just wanted you to know. Thank you Fr Mike..
Wow!! This article was great! I have same sex attraction so technically it doesn’t apply to me and my chaste lifestyle but it really helps me be able to explain these topics to friends on how they relate to the church. I always felt weird and uncomfortable when it comes to IVF and now I fully understand why. I would personally suggest any married couple having trouble having kids naturally to look into adoption instead of IVF.
I am an adopted child. My biological parents couldn’t afford to raise me. I am here! It would’ve been easier for my biological mother to have “it” taken care of. I was place in the arms of my parents and have had a wonderful life: a musician, a speech therapist, a mother and now a grandmother. I have had a blessed life !
Sadly I don`t have any children, God may has other plans for me, but I found another way to include children into my live. I am a very proud godmother and I really love my godchildren. I know that godchildren are not the same as own children, but God gave me a very lovely alternative with being a godmother.
Father, thank you for making this article, but I am just still have questions about this topic. I know a family that follow the Catholic Church’s teachings on contraception. However, they have 11 children and counting, and they have more children than they can pay for or care for. It’s a very unhealthy environment for the kids, and the mother and father aren’t in a happy marriage. Isn’t it wrong to bring a child into the world when you can’t care for it?
Thank you Fr. Mike, my spouse and I have been together for almost 20 years and we have been blessed with 3 beautiful children. I had 2 miscarriages and in 2010 our 3rd child was born. My husband decided he wanted a vasectomy after our 3rd child due to my high risk pregnancies and how sick I get. Should he reverse it? I want to follow God’s path. God bless Please pray for us The Perez’s
In bearing the cross of infertility, and in by making the selfish choice to pursue IVF (thinking getting pregnant was my birthright!)….. it brought me closer to the church (even though I was so very mad at the church in the throws of it) to develop a deep and personal relationship with Christ…what a huge gift and blessing. Confession alone didn’t lift my pain — I had to go thru a lot of time to grieve and heal (Rachels Vineyard) and while no one in my immediate family outside my husband really understands, I do. And Jesus loves me. And that is all that matters.
Thank you for the article. I am a protestant but I’ve always had a great deal of respect for the Catholic Church and have found myself drawn to it more. Having said that the teaching on IVF makes perfect sense to me. If the church didn’t stand against it it would be like not standing against abortion. But the teaching on contraceptives that don’t require any kind of abortifacient method is just odd to me. I can understand the concerns about certain hormonal contraceptives and how they may interfere with life that’s already been created through but I don’t understand the teachings in regards to things like condoms, tubal ligation and vasectomies. The church teaches that natural family planning is fine but in doing so it’s saying that it’s fine to choose to have sexual intercourse on times that you know you won’t get pregnant. In fact when natural family planning is followed precisely it can be even more effective than condom use. So I feel like the church’s teaching falls apart there. By allowing for natural family planning the church is expressly saying that couples may choose to engage in sex in such a way that is not open to life. Of course God could cause the woman to unexpectedly ovulate and she could become pregnant but you could say the same thing about condoms or even a vasectomy. God could make the condom break and the woman become pregnant. Or as has happened to some of my friends, God could cause the vasectomy to fail and for the woman to become pregnant. I truly don’t mean to be argumentative and I would really appreciate a response.
This is a very difficult thing to deal with when you’re having fertility problems. When you’re Catholic and married, people expect you to have kids. So you feel judged. You think that they think that you’re selfish and going against Church teaching. The Scriptures that talk about children being a blessing stab you in the heart. Catholics talk a lot about how a baby is a gift from God and you’re sitting there wondering what you did to not be deemed worthy of such a blessing and gift. Years spent praying over and over for a baby. Every month the heartbreak of another negative pregnancy test. It’s excruciating. And then all around you, you see people that have been able to have kids, but they don’t want them. They abuse them. Sometimes they kill them. And then the abortions. You just think that if the mother can’t handle a baby right now for whatever reason, then why can’t she carry it and then let you adopt her baby instead of aborting it.
Contraception opens up for “sexual liberty” (as culture calls it), because as he said it removes the aspect of life from sex. People are then less considerate of the consequences of sex. Pregnancy is looked at as a concern and something that should be prevented. When a pregnancy then occurs, it can be seen as a mistake because the intention was not to get pregnant and one has distanced sex from the creation of new life. Pregnancy is then considered as something gone wrong instead of something gone right. And then the pregnant woman might consider abortion. The church is really looking out for life. It’s so beautiful how the teaching go together, forming morals and values to protect human life. If anyone has some more arguments and inputs as well as how I might better the way I put it forth, I’ll be happy to hear. I’ve recently started to learn about Christianity and the catholic teaching and I’m looking forward to better my understandment and apologetics. I hope to become catholic in the future💖
I married a Catholic woman. I was not Catholic at the time but we were married in the Catholic Church. I wanted to have children right away, but she wanted to wait two years. Well two turned into three and three turned into seven. It is one of the biggest regrets of my life that I waited so long. Why did I never hear this teaching of the church from my priest? Why does the church hide its teachings from us? Knowing that would have been such a blessing to my life and my family.
As a Protestant, I have a difficult time understanding how NFP differs much in a spiritual or moral sense from hormonal or physical contraception methods (let’s say physical barriers or non-abortive chemical methods to remove the question of abortive birth control methods). NFP is natural, and has many benefits for that reason, but still has the goal of reducing the likelihood of pregnancy. NFP has the purpose of allowing unitive sex while reducing or preventing procreation. Is that not equivalent to other contraceptive methods?
I wanted to become a Mother since I was a kid. I grew up in a very dysfunctional family and I told myself my future family and children will never experience what I’ve been through. Fast forward to present I’ve been married for 5 yrs, been trying hard to conceive. I unfortunately have a severe case of endometriosis that damaged my fallopian tubes and the only way I could get pregnant is through IVF. After multiple failures we finally got pregnant, but sadly miscarried. I’m catholic but I’m still praying hard for a child, it’s the desire of my heart and I hope, although, catholic faith is not supportive of assistive reproduction that somehow miracle will happen to us and my prayers will be answered.
my brother and i were conceived from IVF. for a while i struggled with the idea that i shouldn’t exist & felt like God abandoned me or was ignoring me cuz He didn’t want me here or something. it was nice to hear that perhaps that’s not the case. this article wasn’t the easiest to watch, but it’s good to know the Church’s stance on this kind of thing. it’s gonna be a bit to process though not gonna lie
Father Mike, my husband and I have been trying for 3 years. We are in the middle of going through the catholic approved NaproTechnology, but still no gift of a child . We are nearing the end of our journey with the clinic. I’m having a hard time accepting this message as we are tempted to try IVF since my workplace has an infertility program that will financially assist with the expensive treatments. Please pray for our decision making. I want to do the right thing and refrain, but I can’t imagine going through life without a biological child and being a parent. Please pray for our guidance and peace. God bless
Father, you are a minister of the Truth. Thank you so much for your ministry. The Truth is difficult to receive in our current state but the Truth is exactly that. I have a friend who has two children via IVF and who, along with is beautiful wife, despise the Church as a result of their perception of their opinion of the Church’s teaching. It is so obvious as I speak with the father of the children that I fall so far short of the Good Lord’s beautiful wish for this beautiful man and wife to understand, but I pray. The Truth also includes that the Good Lord is not sitting on His throne wringing His hands! Thank you for a terrific explanation which encouraged me and, I am sure, many others.
Thank you father,nits hard to explain to my Non Catholic family becuase they think ifnthe science is there and I have a niece that is going through this right now. Insaid this and she got very upset especially because she’s not catholic. My other niece is going to be a Surrogate and they think Im crazy. How can I be ProLife but in the other hand, how I can be against the Gift of life?? They hate my beliefs they hate or dont understand my religious beliefs. You’re explanation is great!!
This is the article I did not know I needed to see. I hope to be a wife and a mom. It would be a beautiful GIFT. “Not everyone gets the gift…” sounds harsh but, it actually gave me peace to hear that in a way. Life does begin at conception so, I now am more sure than ever waiting and praying for a gift is the best choice for me. I put all my hopes in God’s hands and I am patient. I hope to receive those gifts but, if not I know God still loves me and there is nothing wrong with me.
Fr. Mike: reading the comments, I think you should make another article on artificial contraception, and try to be more clear and more direct. God created sex for reproduction. Fertility is a good healthy thing, not a disease. God created the desire between man and woman, and the pleasure of sex so people would reproduce. The desire and pleasure is a good healthy thing, not dirty; God created it. God’s will is that these good things are for marriage, and go together. But this kind of relationship will come to an end in the next life. God is our creator, not our parents. God is our creator. When our parents cooperate with the creative nature of God, they ‘pro’-create. ‘Pro’, means for something. God creates a new human life at conception. Conception is Gods creative nature. This is procreation. ‘Contra’, means against something. The purpose of an artificial contraceptive is to block or destroy conception. An artificial contraceptive is only doing what it was intended for, when conception would have taken place. It acts against Gods creation of a new life. When a couple uses artificial contraception, they are acting directly against Gods creative nature. That’s why it’s intrinsically evil. It’s saying I want sex my way, not Gods way. My will be done, not Thy will be done. If someone is infertile because of health, time of month, or age, or simple not having sex. Nothing is being contracepted. There’s no conception that would take place to block or destroy. Using an artificial contraceptives during sex, is like saying I love most of you, but not your fertility.
I would be a liar if I say I wouldn’t go through IVF again. God knows all including our thoughts. Not that my wife would go through IVF again, but I have confessed my sin which I did without knowing I had sinned. I ask god to illuminate my mind and my heart to understand him more. As always, thank you father for your teachings.
Thank you for this brave article Fr. Mike. This is an oft overlooked but sorely needed message to our global church. The secular concerns and ideas around IVF, contraception and ‘pro choice’ are tearing the church’s people apart. Would you kindly consider doing a related article regarding infertility, for catholic couples who experience this most difficult of trials? Being ‘barren’ has been seen as a ‘curse’ even in biblical times/terms. And it continues today… except now we have the supposed panacea and temptress that is IVF… #askfrmike
I just had the opportunity to hear Fathers message and Amen to his words. I’m a Catholic but try to be how God wants me to be even though it’s hard in life but not impossible. I want to share part of my story to give hope to my spiritual Brothers and Sisters. I always try to understand life with Gods word specially for the IVF because I don’t see it as a great thing to do because I put Gods commandments in my life, like the one says Thou should not kill, that came up when I was told I had a 50/50 chance to conceive by doing IVF and if I would loose baby then it would be my fault for killing an unborn, so other doctor told me do a surgery because no matter how much I tired naturally there was no hope for me to get pregnant but my heart told me different words from them so what I started to do is putting my trust and faith in Gods will so I wouldn’t disobey Gods words or commitments. It took me 10 years to have my wonderful baby girl and it’s the best gift I have from God just by faith and trust in God. it’s just for us to ask for his will and never give up in life because I realize that he just wants us closer to him all the time no matter what situation we go threw and always have him first in our life’s. My suggestion is always pray rosary, ask for his will and give us strength and hope for anything because everything is possible walking beside him.❤️🙏
Thank you for your informative and extremely relevant article, Fr. Mike! I’ve struggled with both of these issues myself (both in terms of understanding/accepting them myself, as well as explaining them to non-Catholics), and I know it’s difficult to get one single satisfying answer in 12 minutes. As you said, it starts with softening our hearts and being actually willing to hear the truth and know that whatever Christ and his Church asks of us and teaches to us is not only true, but — as hard as it is to believe — is ultimately for our utmost happiness, far more than anything we could come up with ourselves. With regard to IVF, I will add that children have a natural right to be conceived and created within the loving embrace of their mother and father. How would a child feel about their own self-worth or dignity knowing they were created from a petri dish or from a stranger’s sperm? Of course, this does not in any way take away their human dignity and the fact that they are created in the image and likeness of God and infinitely loved by him, nor would a child conceived in rape or out of wedlock. But to DELIBERATELY create those situations or put children into those situations would be uncharitable.
Father Mike, thank you for creating this article and trying to touch on this controversial issue of IVF. I am a practicing catholic and am fascinated by this topic. I always dreamed of being a mom, but as I was approaching my late thirties, I decided to have my eggs frozen. Shortly after that, I met my husband, who had had a vasectomy as he didn’t want children. As we grew closer, he changed his mind and we decided to go through IVF. Today, we are blessed with a toddler and a baby, and have no frozen embryos left. May I respectfully challenge your reasoning in this article? While I was going through IVF, I was very concerned with the morality of the treatment. I don’t believe that IVF should be outright judged as immoral or wrong. Perhaps, there can be a right, respectful way of utilizing this scientific advancement. Firstly, I do believe that life starts at conception, and that if you leave an embryo frozen forever or donate it to scientific research, or discard it, you are discarding a life. However, what if one commits to transfer back all your embryos for more than one pregnancy? Why would that be frown upon by the Church? Secondly, by your reasoning and analogies, I understand that you should not use something against its very nature. So, using your rationale, one could say that you should not use sex in ways that are not for bonding and/or procreation. However, when you go through IVF, you are not miss-using sex. You are having a drug and surgical treatment, to help your body do what it can’t do on its own.
@askfrmike: Father Mike, we are a family with 3 wonderful children, blessed with 3 creative and restless and adorable children. But as a husband, I would like to unite with my wife without the “fear” of another child. We’re not that young anymore and our patience has thin limits now. Guess what? A fourth child is on the way. So, please, tell me dear father Mike, why contraception isn’t allowed from some point? We used the calendar way, but last two kids “came” in an infertile period. So….
I’m a life long Protestant that has been flirting with Catholic theology lately. Much of it is rich and beautiful. But this subject alone, would prevent me from fully embracing Catholicism. Not because I have a dog in the fight. But because it has absolutely no scripture to back it up. It is pure arbitrary rules based on human reason. Whether or not we can rationalize it by reasoning out the purpose of sex, it’s still human reason and not a thus saith the Lord. The church should not be binding people’s consciences to things not revealed by him.
Father Mike, I’ve been listening to your podcast and I think I love you brother . I get it ! Your helping me regain my faith . Oh, how I wish I could believe as I did . I have always believed abortion was wrong – sin . And when Roe v Wade was overturned it took me back to that time before it became lawful to support abortion . I suddenly saw History ! Sixty years of our relationship to sex . When I saw women picketing congress it welled up in me a sort of fury – women marching to say it’s my right to accept this child or not . Ok, what I wanted share with you was this – I lived at a time before the “pill” gave us the freedom
I respect the way this is presented but I have to say that it’s absolutely interesting how faith picks and chooses when to let science (the molecules that are released during sex ergo it’s the whatforness as intended by God) confirm their ideas and when to reject it. Also, with all due respect, if men and women were put here to procreate, how can the catholic church go against the whatforness of life by imposing celibacy? The arguments just don’t hold up. Good speaker though 👍
I don’t see how not using contraception makes you whole. I see so many unwanted kids or kids from families who can’t afford to take care of them. Kids need parents who have time to take care of them. With 2 parents working it doesn’t make sense to have 10 kids. I guess it just means we should only have sex once in our lives?
Natural is better. I had cancer when my kids were teenagers. I was blessed to have 3 children. I now have 3 grandchildren as well. But snow-babies, as they are called, the embryos which are forgotten and the donor only wants to abort them, are not necessarily wrong. Poses the question: bonding through sexual affection is for specific reasons when you are older. Bonding is the primary reason. Being a positive healthy example without being disrespectful of your husband/wife/family is the second. Why then, should we not still procreate AND adopt an embryo if you and your spouse have difficulty conceiving. Adoption of a child already here is also very good. Either way, what you say is pretty true. I appreciate your opinion. That last thing you said: if you’re an IVF baby, you are real and God wants you here. Truth. Prayers for you, Father Schmitz. Please continue to speak truth. Your words come out of solid moral education. God bless you.
I support this idea. We need more Catholics! I like Catholicism, I want it to thrive and not be snuffed out by Islamic immigrants. I was raised Protestant but all my ancestors were Catholic. It’s the faith of my fathers, and the faith of knights and kings and warriors. I love that Catholicism gave us chivalry, art, music and beauty. Everything I like about life came from the Church. Islam hates music, art, beauty, chivalry and was the enemy of my ancestral fathers. All of my favorite scientists, philosophers, mathematicians and warriors were Catholic. It’s a beautiful faith and in my mind the more Catholic babies, the better
This is a 12 minute article. Not one scripture or Bible verse was recited. This is what I hate the most about being Catholic. How dare you instruct me on something and not recite one verse from the word of God. This makes me think that the allegations that the church is more about dogma and councils than biblical scripture is true. i’m very disappointed in this article and the message that it portrays
I feel the argument is misleading. the analogy is that the chair can be used for is primary nature (sitting on) or can be used for secondary nature (as a table), and violating the chair is destroying it. And for sex the nature is bonding and babies. the equivalent of using sex for bonding and not babies would be putting something on the chair and not sitting on it. Saying that only having sex for bonding but not babies is the same as violating the chair would be saying that every time you set something on the chair you would also have to sit on it otherwise you are violating the nature of the chair, which is just not true. Food is a good example, God made food to strengthen and repair our bodies, and he also made it enjoyable (praise God!), so as humans we are not violating food if we only use it for repair (eating vegetables we dont like), or only using it for its other nature to enjoy (eating dessert, drinking wine), so it is with sex, as long as it is used for bonding or babies or both (as you said in your article), it doesn’t matter if you do not fulfil the other.
Fr. Mike thank you for this talk. I have a question about Natural Family Planning- NFP: if working against conception is bad for us as humans, then creating and using a method, like a pill or a condom, is also bad for us. I think (I’m interested in your position on this), that the creation of a plan that can aid in the prediction of when a woman’s body is most likely to conceive (NFP – is something that has been developed and taught- to me it’s a form of algorithm/equation which has inherent intellectual property )- it is not natural it is a practice to use just like a pill to prevent conception, and is also not good for us. I’m very interested in your comments. Thank you for allowing this discussion.
Some one once said “motherhood or fatherhood is a character having children doesn’t make you a mother or a father” since I heard that I always think about children without parents and those children who has no one to take care of them and love them. GOD gives a gift of love if we love them and we can’t have them that means our children are in some orphanage waiting for us. I don’t know if I can have children or not I never tried but if I can’t all I know is GOD used somebody’s body to carry my baby that is it. Thank you father.
I respect anyone willing to have a belief and make an argument on its behalf, but if you think IVF is not a unifying experience between a husband and a wife, then you have not sufficiently explored what is involved. Creating the embryo is the easy part, holding her hand while it’s implanted inside her, waking up every morning at 6:00am to inject her with progesterone, crying together when you get the bad news that it didn’t take… what is more unifying than that?
My mother had 24 children including 4 sets of twins and one stillbirth. In 1958 when I was born, I am not even sure if there was contraception. I am grateful though that apparently, she never used any because I hit the jackpot the day I was born since I was number 23 (my twin sister was number 24). The chances of me being born in a typical family was slim to none. My mother was my hero.
Happy “birthday “, Ascension! Yesterday was the Ascension Day for you catholics. Today His Sanctity Pope Francis descended to my country 😊 And i have actually managed to see him 😀. I v e watched the holy mess his sanctity kept here în bucharest and the gospel was about the meeting of Mary and Elisabeth – the first trip of Mary as his sanctity called it- and the belssings they had shared, as two Mothers blessed by God for their humbleness and for obeying to His Will 😍 Unfortunately I lack enough faith as I became a Mother way too late after many years of delaying, and now I am afraid to have more Kids as I am too old and not a good enough Mother already; so I have nothing but to pray God for his mercy and his holy Mother to help me to overcome my unfaithfullness ( lack of faith) 😢
Thank you for giving this talk. It’s so hard to explain this topic to people in or out of the church. As someone who is going to school to become an adoption counselor, people forget that God might not have it in His plan for you to have biological children, but your child might be out there in the world already waiting for you to find them. Family is not people who share blood, but people who share love and we need to be open to life wherever it may come from, but we can not force our will on the greater plan that the Lord has for us. And what a beautiful plan that is. ❤💕😁💖
Whoa…the logic escapes me. Are either of these mortal sins? I have a learning discibility so that may be why I’m not good with logic and philosophy. Priests and nuns are allowed to selectively decide they will not ever have children when they receive their sacrament of Holy Orders. I knew at a very early age that I never wanted children due to my childhood traumas. I met a man, fell in love and found out he had a vasectomy. It was a non issue for me. He had children from a previous marriage. His vasectomy was forgiven and we married in our Catholic Church.. We were married 35 years when he passed. I failed to understand until my late 60’s that it was a sin for me to not want children. I still have not had that confession. But what I always understand from you that we love 💘 and don’t judge. Thanks for all your time here.
But then why are we given permission to do other activities with our bodies that are against their nature? For example: The act of consuming alcohol results in a net dehydration of the body. Alcoholic beverages such as wine contain essentially no nutritional value (or even “contra-nutritional” value), and yet, isn’t the nature of the act of drinking to nourish the body? Done in moderation however, drinking is tolerated by the church, and in some instances, encouraged in the Bible. In a similar vein, we routinely take in food that we simply do not need, purely for the enjoyment of the act. I can have a piece of chocolate cake for desert, even though I’ve already consumed all the calories need to live from the meal I just ate. As long as I don’t eat chocolate cake with every meal (which would be gluttonous), no one bats an eye, even though strictly speaking I’m “exploiting” the nature of eating, which is simply meant to sustain life. I understand the thrust of the church’s position on things like contraception, but it’s not a logically consistent one, which makes it weak.
What I appreciated most about the article was the initial disclaimer and introduction, and, the disclaimer again at the end. But as to the gist of the explanation, it seems to me that the sexual act can be valid for either procreation, or for bonding. Why insist on both things simultaneously? It seems to me that a separation of the two allows for the affirmation of a much larger and more varied conception of human sexuality, without condoning mere licentiousness. I tether my sympathy for Church teaching here to your phrase, “the Church has its reasons.” Yes. It does. So, let us (let me) be merciful in the assessment of its teaching. That being said, I haven’t taken leave of my own intellectual faculties, nor do I intend to do so any time soon. And it bothers me that the Church always seems to be condemning the utilization of technologies for sexual purposes, characterizing them as dehumanizing, rather than life enhancing. Was it ever thus when it came to science? I have to wonder.
I’m still struggling to understand the teaching on IVF. How is it different from any other health care? If life is a gift that we don’t deserve, then should cancer patients not receive chemo because life is a gift and we don’t get to choose whether or not we have it? Why should we go see doctors at all if we’re not supposed to control life? Not to be morbid, but if we’re talking life “from conception to natural death” then why do we try to stay alive when we get sick? Does getting heart surgery after a heart attack prevent natural death? Y’all wouldn’t tell someone with cancer, heart problems, or any other health issue not to seek treatment because we’re supposed to die naturally and if you die you die, so why do we say that infertile women can’t get treatment to be able to bring life into the world? Those children are still real children. It doesn’t make sense. A couple is still unified through their love, that’s why they got married in the first place. It’s not just sex hormones keeping them together. Someone please explain because it seems hypocritical and cruel to me.
As an IVF baby, a Catholic, and someone who worked with IVF; my biggest issue with the church’s stance on IVF is that all the justifications are about a specific METHOD. All the justifications against IVF can be eliminated with a specific method. How do I know? I worked in a law firm that does that, when possible.
“The church wants you to be whole and be joyful” Being pregnant and having rough pregnancies doesn’t bring me joy it gives me anxiety . I have 2 beautiful girls and then my husband got a vasectomy . I was called to follow Jesus a couple months ago and I consider myself a strong Catholic .. but within the confines of marriage, I have a hard time thinking that it’s wrong to use contraception or vasectomy to continue my sexual embrace with my husband without the constant worry of another pregnancy. Our union has to come first so that my children will have secure parents to look up to and learn from. My parents used natural family planning and they did not want to have 11 kids.. they didn’t want me, they never loved me… NFP didn’t work for them …. I am so grateful I was given life. I think it’s an unrccesary stress to be constantly wondering if I’m pregnant or not … I’m blessed to have been super fertile but my body took a beating with my 2 pregnancies .