Marriage and Family Life: The EarlyYearsgenetic disease that can be passed on to
the baby.These techniques include (U.S
Department of Health,2006):
In vitro fertilization (IVF)–
fertilization outside the body using
mature eggs and sperm for fertilization.
The embryos are then implanted into in
the women’s uterus.
Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT)
or Tubal Embryo Transferis similar to IVF
but the young embryo is transferred to the
fallopian tube instead of the uterus.
Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT)
involves transferring both eggs and sperm
into the fallopian tube so fertilization
takes place in the woman’s body (rarely
used).
Intracytoplasmicsperminjection
(ICSI)isusedwhenthereareserious
problemswiththesperm,orforolder
couplesinwhichIVFhasfailed.In
ICSIasinglespermisinjectedintoa
matureegg,thentheembryois
transferredtotheuterusorfallopian
tube.
Embryoadoptionisanotheroption
forinfertilecouples.Sincemanyeggs
andspermareharvested,andmany
embryoscreated,thereisthequestionof
whattodowiththeunusedembryos.
Currentlytherearehalfamillion
embryosfrozeninstorageintheUnited
States,with12%ofthosenotcurrently
beingusedbytheparents(Nightlight
ChristianAdoptions,2008).Sometimes
coupleselectto“adopt”oneofthese
embryosforimplantationintothewoman’s
uterus.Inthiscase,theresultingchildwould
notbebiologicallyrelatedtoeitherparent.
Christians sometimes grapple with the
issue of reproductive technology.Some
Christians argue that such fertility
methods interfere with God’s intention for
our bodies.(You can read more about
some of the ethical dilemmas surrounding
reproductive technology in Sidebar 6.3.)
Some questions to ask yourself are: is
infertility the will of God or a
consequence of human and
environmental factors? Is fertilizing an egg
outside the woman’s body playing God?AdoptionAdoption has become an increasingly
common practice in the United States.
Approximately 1.6 million children areReproductive technology has given infertile
couples new hope for having a child.©iStockphoto.com/hannamonika