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.