Repentance precedes baptism of babies born to surrogate mothers: R.O.C
Russia, 4 January 2014: The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has issued a
statement on the baptism of infants born to surrogate mothers.
After expressing
sympathy for spouses struggling with infertility, the synod cited a 2000 Russian Orthodox
bishops’ document and stated that it is morally licit for spouses to use artificial
insemination as long as fertilized eggs are not destroyed. (The Catholic Church, in
contrast, teaches that artificial insemination is gravely immoral)
The synod
affirmed Russian Orthodox teaching that surrogate motherhood is “unnatural and morally
unacceptable” and stated that surrogate motherhood humiliates the woman carrying the
couple’s child by reducing her body to “a kind of incubator.”
Infant baptism,
the statement continued, presumes “upbringing in the Christian faith and according
to the norms of Christian morality.” Such an upbringing cannot be assumed, the synod
stated, unless those presenting the infant for baptism – either the parents or the
surrogate mother –repent. Without such repentance, baptism must be deferred until
the child can make the choice. Source: CWN