Pontifical Academy for Life holds workshop on infertility

(February 24, 2012) The Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life held a one-day workshop in the Vatican on Friday on treating infertility in an ethical way. Using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to treat infertility is often unnecessary, as well as immoral, Fr. Renzo Pegoraro, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Catholic News Agency (CAN) on the eve of the workshop. He believes the IVF approach to infertility is motivated by “the idea that technology can offer a solution without trying to resolve the real problem of infertility.” The workshop was part of the 18th general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life that began on Thursday and will conclude on Saturday with a papal audience. The workshop featured 16 experts from Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy and the United States. Ahead of the workshop, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula told Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that some 15% of the world’s population suffers from infertility, and in some of the developing countries it is as high as 30%. Noting that the condition causes delusion, frustration and a sense of blame, he said the Academy aims to help people by informing them about the latest developments in medical science, both with regard to prevention and treatment of the condition, thus giving infertile couples hope for a legitimate and responsible parenthood. The Catholic Church teaches that all kinds of IVF and artificial fertilization are morally wrong because, as with contraception, it separates the procreative purpose of the marriage act from its unitive purpose. The Church maintains that physical sterility is not an absolute evil and advocates adoption as an option for couples who still wish to have children.