What is the Catholic view on Artificial Insemination?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church does not approve of artificial insemination.

The U.S. bishops address this question in the fourth edition of the USCCB text Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services:

Directive 38: When the marital act of sexual intercourse is not able to attain its procreative purpose, assistance that does not separate the unitive and procreative ends of the act, and does not substitute for the marital act itself, may be used to help married couples conceive.

Directive 41: Homologous artificial fertilization (that is, any technique used to achieve conception using the gametes of the two spouses joined in marriage) is prohibited when it separates procreation from the marital act in its unitive significance (e.g., any technique used to achieve extra-corporeal conception).

For the complete document, see: http://www.usccb.org/bishops/directives.shtml

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

The Church teaches that every child has the right to be created in the cooperative work of his mother, father and the Lord.

Artificial insemination firstly requires masturbation, which is against the Lord. One can never do evil in order to bring about good.

Artificial insemination completely removes the child's right to be born of a loving union between her parents and God.

It also reduces children to property that can be bought, rather than the gifts from God that they are.

Infertile couples who desire a child are encouraged to open their hearts and homes to a child without the prospect of a loving, stable 2 parent home. Any one who claims they could never love an adopted child aas much as a biological child ahouldn't be a parent in the first place.

Answer 3

Artificial insemination requires the addition of a third party to the act of conception and also the lack of sexual intercourse in conception, so there are two reasons why it is against the Catholic religion.

To explain more fully:

The Catholic Church believes that every child should be conceived in the ultimate act of love between a man and a woman -- in this way, the two become one very literally. This is how God designed procreation, and this is how God enables us, mere mortals, to participate in Creation, which is a holy thing.

Artificial insemination first separates conception from sex. Whether or not the man masturbates by himself or the woman helps him out, the pair are not physically united in sexual intercourse. In some case, the couples don't even use the husband's own sperm, but a donor's production, which further separates the couple in this process of conception.

Then the man's semen is handed to another party, the technician/doctor, who treats the semen to make it more viable, either by "spinning" the sperm out of the seminal fluid and putting it in an inert suspension, or by mixing several weak sperm samples from the same man together or by mixing the husband's weak sperm sample with another man's stronger sperm to create "competition" and enable the husband's sperm to become more viable. (Yes, all this happens -- we went through infertility, so I looked into ALL the options.)

When the sperm is prepared, the doctor injects it into the woman's uterus, which has either naturally begun to ovulate or has been artificially induced to ovulation through a drug like Clomid, thereby further separating the couple from each other during the act of conception.

The Church has great sympathy for infertile couples and will offer much prayerful support and encouragement to any couple going through this terrible ordeal. Having been through it myself, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. However, though infertility is awful, the holy act of sexual intercourse between a man and wife ought not be bastardized, nor should the holy act of conceiving a child be compromised by separating the husband and wife during the process.

Answer 4

Artificial insemination is not of a Christian lifestyle. God decides who when and if a woman shall conceive, not man! When we do these sorts of things like invetro or abortion we are in a sense playing god. This is the job of God's and no one, no one has a right to interfere what God say's or does! Invetro is a sin! Please, give much thought to this way of being with child. Go and pray over this much, listen to the still small Voice, the Voice of God, He will never steer you wrong so long as you abide in Him!

Answer 5

Catholics object to it on several grounds. Its not natural. It requires killing some eggs, etc..

Not acceptable behavior for a Catholic.

Answer 6

From a few that I have spoken to they object to the whole idea

Answer 7

I should think they'd consider it a sin. It does, after all, require masturbation. And we all know how evil THAT is...