Fertility / Infertility / IVF
Q&A on IVF and Sin
QUESTION: Is it a sin for a single woman to have a child through in vitro fertilization simply because she wants to be a mother? ANSWER: The simple answer is “no,” but as you might have already guessed, it is a bit more complicated than that. Results and Methods...
Q&A on IVF and Sin
QUESTION: Is it a sin for a single woman to have a child through in vitro fertilization simply because she wants to be a mother? ANSWER: The simple answer is “no,” but as you might have already guessed, it is a bit more complicated than that. Results and Methods...
IVF: A Blessing or a Problem?
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources On July 25, 1978, the world learned of the birth of the first baby using a process called in vitro fertilization (IVF), or “outside the womb” fertilization. Quickly dubbed by the press as the world’s...
Q&A on Egg Donation
QUESTION: One of my friends is considering using an egg donor, so she and her husband can have a baby. (She has no eggs due to pre-menopause). Do you have suggestions for how I can help them understand more about this or have resources to share? Am I correct that from...
God’s Life and Death Principle
Rev. Wayne D. Mueller May a Christian couple consider in vitro fertilization a God-pleasing way to relieve their childlessness? Is it ever ethical to pull the plug on respiratory equipment attached to a lifetime faithful spouse? To what lengths must we go to preserve...
Natural Family Planning and Sterilization
This is an overview of the information in The Christian and Birth Control book, published by Christian Life Resources. To purchase the book, click on the link at the bottom of this page. The “ends-justify-the-means” mentality permeates the world and Christians are not...
Emergency Contraception and the IUD
This is an overview of the information in The Christian and Birth Control book, published by Christian Life Resources. To purchase the book click on the link at the bottom of this page. This chapter brings us to the halfway point in our discussion about a Christian’s...
Mifeprex, Methotrexate, Misoprostol
This is an overview of the information in The Christian and Birth Control book, published by Christian Life Resources. To purchase the book click on the link at the bottom of this page. There is a certain arbitrariness in our selected order of addressing various birth...
Barrier Methods and Spermicides
This is an overview of the information in The Christian and Birth Control book, published by Christian Life Resources. To purchase the book click on the link at the bottom of this page. Don’t read this chapter! If you haven’t read the first chapter in this book on...
Motive // The Christian and Birth Control
This is an overview of the information in The Christian and Birth Control book, published by Christian Life Resources. To purchase the book click on the link at the bottom of this page. For years the national office of Christian Life Resources has been wrestling with...
Is Sperm Bank Use Permissible?
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources 1. A common method of sperm retrieval involves a violation of the sixth commandment (masturbation with the assistance of pornography). 2. Many ethical and practical issues are the same here as with...
Terminology of Assisted Reproduction Procedures
Abortion for Sex Selection: Abortion of a male or female unborn child solely because of its gender. Artificial Insemination - Donor (AID): Intravaginal or intraeuterine insemination of a woman with her husband's sperm (though intrauterine insemination is usually...
A Christian’s Questions and Answers about IVF
QUESTION: Does in vitro fertilization ALWAYS result in discarding (aborting) some embryos? Is this something a couple who had used this process would be aware of? ANSWER: No, the process doesn't always result in embryos being discarded -- although, often, a...
When Life Seems to Have No Meaning
Pastor Bruce Wietzke Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? We know such a question is not uncommon in our world. We live among people who not only may ask such a question concerning themselves but may also cut short the life of the unborn...
As God Wills: Understanding God’s Plan for Childless Couples
Mrs. Mary Schmal, Author, Christ-Light Curriculum Somewhere a young man longs to play for a professional football team. Another just hopes to see a live NFL game. Somewhere a young woman longs to be a star in the theaters of New York. Another just hopes to see a live...
A Scriptural Approach to Family Planning
Family planning decisions should be in harmony with God’s revealed will concerning marriage and children. God desires to bless those who enter marriage in three ways (not prioritized): Companionship: Genesis 2:18 - "The LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be...
He’s Always There
Pastor Mark Cordes He’s Always There – or – Thou, God, Seest Me In the name of Christ our Life, my dear Christian friends: I once received a postcard which read, Dear Clergy, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day present a crisis of faith for many couples who find themselves...
Bible Study: Surrogate Parenting
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources Correct decision-making is determined by Scriptural principles. Some decisions are easy because some principles explicitly address a particular application. For example, it is easy to decide that not...
A Biblical Look at Sperm Donation
Rev. Robert Fleischmann National Director, Christian Life Resources A common method of sperm retrieval (masturbation with the assistance of pornography) involves a violation of the sixth commandment (Matthew 5:28; Colossians 3:5; Exodus 20:14). Many ethical and...
The Hidden Dangers of In Vitro Fertilization
Bradley Mattes, MBS, Life Issues Institute In vitro fertilization (IVF) is viewed as controversial technology within the pro-life community. Many have an ethical problem with how human life is created. The primary reason though is that most doctors who perform this...
The Pill
This is an overview of the information in The Christian and Birth Control book, published by Christian Life Resources. To purchase the book click on the link at the bottom of this page. It is more than coincidental that this topic has been left for last in the book....
Birth Control Series [Part 1]: The Paramount Value of Human Life
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources The following is the first in a series of articles exploring the topic of birth control and contraception from the Christian perspective. Christian Life Resources ran a similar series in 1998-1999...
Birth Control Series [Part 2]: Marriage and Children
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources This is the second installment of the CLR series addressing the Christian viewpoint of birth control and contraception. Married couples have at their disposal the ability to control childbearing. To...
Birth Control Series [Part 3]: Controlling Birth and Christian Life
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources This is the third installment of the Clearly Caring series addressing the Christian viewpoint of birth control and contraception. In 1998, I first tackled the subject of birth control in the pages of...
Barren – A Look at Infertility
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources Barren: not reproducing as incapable of producing offspring A “desire” is not, in and of itself, wrong. When, however, someone is willing to commit sin in order to fulfill a desire, that desire then...
The Facts Behind Assisted Reproductive Technology
An infertile couple is often tempted to consider assisted reproductive technology (ART) as a means to bear a child. Not surprising considering all of the publicity the procedure receives since the birth of the first “test tube baby” in 1978. Today, the delivery of ART...
Withheld Blessings – A Look at Childlessness
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, Christian Life Resources, National Director She grew up in a family with three sisters and one brother. He grew up with just a sister. When they married they never imagined they would not be able to have children together. Most of their...
Adopting a Snowflake
What should be done with 400,000 frozen embryos that are cryo-preserve after in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures? In some cases, those embryos are waiting to be thawed and transferred to their biological mothers with the hope they will implant and grow....
A Challenge to Our Article: “A Christian’s Questions and Answers about IVF”
A challenge to our article here. “A Christian's Questions and Answers about IVF” On April 12, 2017, a reader contacted us with the following comment: “‘In general, of those who enter IVF programs, success rate is 8 percent.’ <- that is wildly inaccurate. See this...
Fatal Flaw
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources The tenets of evolution and creation conflict on many points but none as significantly as on the reality of original sin. The Lutheran Catechism defines original sin as: “The guilt and...
Q&A on IVF and Genetic Embryo Testing
QUESTION: I am inquiring about information on IVF and embryo genetic testing. What is the Christian stance on both of these and how can I do IVF treatments and still uphold God's Truth? ANSWER: Scripture teaches that life exists already at conception (Psalm 51:5)....
