IVF is Evil.

IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is evil.

IVF is the process of combining sperm and egg cells in vitro: in a test tube, culture dish, or some other place outside of the womb.

I am aware that there are Christians who think they have done “ethical IVF.” The term “ethical IVF” is an oxymoron. It contradicts itself.

There is nothing about IVF that can be considered ethical by any definition of the word, regardless of how you do it. In the process, embryos are purposefully created to get the genetically perfect child that you want. Another name for this is eugenics.

Many of these embryos, which are human lives since they are fertilized (remember, science says that life begins at fertilization, not implantation), end up dying by attrition. They die of “natural causes” and IVF technicians will justify this loss by reasoning that several embryos are lost in normal human reproduction.

The difference is, in IVF, you are paying for these embryos to be created. You are accountable for the sons and daughters you create and willingly sacrifice to get the son or daughter you want.

After the successful embryos are created, they are graded by the IVF clinics. The embryos that do not meet the top two grades are then “selectively reduced.” This is a euphemism for “aborted” (Loving Your IVF Neighbor by Dusty Deevers, p.18).

And if that is not bad enough, during the pregnancy, if the fetus is not developing perfectly or markers for Down syndrome appear, the IVF technicians will recommend another “selective reduction” (Deevers, p.18, fn.35) These are done as late as the second trimester. Often several embryos are implanted to increase the chances of a genetically perfect baby. Therefore a brother or sister, a son or a daughter, is sacrificed based on the whims of the parent (sex selection is a common reason for these abortions) or the advice of a fallible technician (by now you may notice that I do not call them doctors).

As an aside, in states where surgical abortion is outlawed, there is no way to know whether the IVF clinics are doing selective reductions in the womb. The industry is completely unregulated. If the procedure can be done in the clinic, there is little chance that anyone would ever report it. Far more money is made in IVF than the abortionist ever thought of making.

The embryos that are not implanted are instead placed into cryogenic storage freezers. Parents must pay an annual fee for these “snowflake babies” to cover the expenses of maintaining them. I have heard of couples having as many as ten or twenty embryos in such frozen prisons. The attrition rate is said to be 15%, although there was a case recently where fifteen embryos were thawed in preparation for implantation, and they lost all of them. This is a bloodbath.

Again I remind you that all of this child sacrifice is done to get the one or two genetically perfect sons or daughters that the couple wants.

And yet, this is not even close to the end of the ethical conundrum.

It begins with the problem of how the process works. With infertile couples, they use either the sperm or the egg of either parent. But whatever is lacking in terms of healthy material (sperm or egg) is supplied by another source (Deevers, p.14). To say this is problematic morally is a vast understatement.

God has ordained the marriage relationship for sex and reproduction: “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled, for the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). He has not ordained that a third or fourth party be invited into the union to create human life. The third-party of another partner who supplies the sperm or the egg and the fourth party of a lab technician to mix the sperm and egg under glass is not the design of God.

The way that the sperm is obtained in an IVF clinic is also sinful. The clinics are equipped with rooms containing pornography to “help” the men ejaculate and thereby produce semen. Both semen and eggs are regularly purchased from banks by IVF clinics.

The word for this is human trafficking.

It has been my observation in speaking with many women in front of IVF clinics in Tarrant County, Texas, that they have hardened their own hearts (Ex. 8:15) against the children that they lose in the process. As they do, I believe that God Himself is hardening their hearts (Ex. 8:19) and that they are in a very desperate place spiritually. Much like women in front of an abortion mill, they become apathetic or angry about this truth.

It is connected to the sin of idolatry (Deevers, p.28-29). When a professing Christian couple says, “I know that the Bible says that God is the One who opens and closes the womb, but we have found a way to short-circuit the providence of God, and we have the money to pay for this, no matter what God wants,” the line is crossed into idolatry. Whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). Engaging in immoral, unethical behavior to acquire what you want, combined with playing God by recklessly creating human lives to sacrifice, is idolatry.

The desire to have a child is a good thing. Children are a blessing from the Lord (Ps. 127:3-5).  But the refusal to do things God’s way, trusting in His Sovereignty to give that blessing, is wicked. We should not do evil so that good may come (Rom. 3:8).

In addition to ethical fertility treatments, there are other options. There is the option of prayer. Hannah and so many others in the Bible can attest to the power of prayer (1 Sam. 1). Remember, in a once-in-history event, the Spirit of God caused a virgin to conceive (Matt. 1:18)! Christian, you claim to believe it. Do you? Since He can do that, can He not give you a child?

There is the option of adoption. Adoption beautifully pictures The Gospel (Rom. 8:14-17). Your family could be an example of The Gospel. You could adopt a child in the state foster care systems, adopt a baby through an adoption agency, and give a living human child a home.

If you have participated in IVF and have a beautiful child as a result, thank God. Your child is created in His image. I do not claim that he or she is less human or less imago Dei than any other (Gen. 1:27). But think for a moment about your children in a frozen prison. You need to first have those babies implanted and brought into this world, or you need to speak to the IVF clinic and do everything humanly possible to free them from these prisons. Connect them to couples, and ideally Christian couples, who will sacrifice to save their lives. Connect couples directly to the clinic to begin the process of implantation.

And, as painful as it is to think about, you need to remember the little sons and daughters that you sacrificed to attain your son or daughter. You need to call this what God calls it: murder. Perhaps idolatry. Perhaps selfishness. Perhaps pride. That is between you and God. Ask Him to reveal motives and sins. Confess them. Repent of them. Do all you can to rescue those appointed to slaughter (Prov. 24:11-12).

For an excellent summary of the baseline practices of IVF, check out this animated short from Choice42 called Build-A-Baby. This brief video was made by a former Pixar animator with original music by composer Aaron Fullan. Be sure to check out the resources listed under the video on the hosting page. For a detailed discussion of IVF from a Biblical perspective, please check out Weeping Time, a documentary by Pastor CR Cali.

JON SPEED
1689 Federalism | Post Millennialism | General Equity Theonomist
Jon Speed is married to Kim and they have five children and two grandchildren. He is the Pastor of Missions and Evangelism at By the Word Baptist Church in Azle, TX. Speed is the author of Evangelism in the New Testament and co-produced Babies Are Murdered Here (2014) and Babies Are STILL Murdered Here (2019). He planted Christ is King Baptist Church in Syracuse, NY (2011-2019) and is a co-founder of Loor.tv.