Bioethics

Question 1

Define In Vitro Fertilisation

Answer 1

a medical procedure for infertile couples

Question 2

Define Embryo

Answer 2

an unborn human during the period from around the second to the eighth week after fertilisation

Question 3

Give one Bible verse which argues against the science involved with IVF/surrogacy

Answer 3

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20v3

Question 7

Define Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Answer 7

An organisation which regulates and inspects all clinics in the UK providing IVF, artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs, sperm or embryos

Question 8

Who was the first IVF baby and when was she born?

Answer 8

Louise Brown, born in 1978.

Question 9

Arguments for IVF (5)

Answer 9

• Infertility can be treated as an illness and those suffering from infertility should receive an alternative
• All couple should have the right to ‘try’ for children.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.”
• Some Christians would argue that if no embryos are destroyed then there is nothing wrong with IVF – ‘ethical’ IVF
• The foetus does not have the characteristics of a person and therefore there should be no moral objection to IVF treatment.

Question 10

What do Christians believe about surrogacy?

Answer 10

All Christian denominations find surrogacy unacceptable with the Catholic Church describing the process as “gravely immoral.”

Question 11

Give another bible quote against IVF

Answer 11

‘For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.’ Psalm 139 v13

Question 12

Arguments against surrogacy? (3)

Answer 12

• The child will have identity issues in later life. - It may cause confusion of ‘ownership’, in which the surrogate may bond with the child once she has given birth to the baby.
• Surrogacy may also create circumstances for women to be exploited, in which they are used in this degrading manner to earn money.

Question 13

Give a bible verse which explains how god forms a relationship with humans before they’re born.

Answer 13

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Jeremiah 1 v 5

Question 14

Define Assisted Reproductive Technology

Answer 14

the use of technology to assist human reproduction in the treatment of infertility

Question 16

Define infertility

Answer 16

Infertility is the inability to reproduce by natural means.

Question 17

Arguments against IVF (5)

Answer 17

• It can lead to the destruction of new life
• Separates the creation of new life (reproduction) from the intimate uniting act of sex.
• It challenges the monogamy of marriage. Brings others into the process
• Encourages the idea that there is a ‘right’ to have children, forgetting they are a ‘gift’
• Should not be the ‘last resort’. There are many children in need of adoption

Question 23

Define surrogacy

Answer 23

When an infertile couple pay a woman to give birth to a child resulting from artificial insemination or IVF

Question 29

Define sanctity

Answer 29

ultimate importance and inviolability.

Question 30

Explain some of the benefits of IVF treatment (5)

Answer 30

• IVF offers the opportunity for infertile couples to have children
• IVF means implanting several embryos, therefore couples who want multiple children through IVF have a high chance of having twins or triplets during one pregnancy
• IVF can prevent the pain and trauma that comes with discovering infertility
• ‘Designer Babies’ are possible through IVF, offering couples the choice of a specific gender e.g without birth defects
• IVF can save the life of an existing ill child through bone marrow transplants as the IVF baby becomes a ‘Saviour Sibling’

Question 31

A Christian couple who are infertile should accept that they cannot have children

Answer 31

• Christians believe in the sanctity of life meaning that all life is sacred and holy
• processes such as abortion or the termination of unneeded IVF embryos disrespects life made by God
• Christians believe that having children is a ‘gift’ and IVF encourages that there is a ‘right’ to have children
• They believe alternatives to IVF which do not exclude the ‘uniting loving act of sex’ are better alternatives
• Other Christians believe that infertility is an illness to be overcome, Genesis 1v8 ‘Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control.’
• they argue that if no embryos are destroyed then ‘ethical IVF’ provides a way for them to treat infertility
• another alternative to IVF is surrogacy, when another woman carries and gives birth to a baby for the couple or donated sperm is used.
• However all Christian denominations find surrogacy unacceptable
• The Catholic Church believe it to be ‘gravely immoral’ as it involves a third party in the marriage