Question:
Answer:
If a person you’ve counseled subsequently chooses to conceive a child via vitro fertilization, encourage them not to follow through on the typical practice of discarding embryos that are deemed “inferior” re: their human development. Sadly, the conventional practice is to fertilize a good number of a woman’s eggs, so that the chances for a “viable” embryo increases, and then destroy the “excess” embryonic human persons whose health is deemed inadequate. If an embryonic child subsequently dies while being preserved in a lab, as can happen, the woman or couple will avoid the culpability of having that child deliberating killed.
In addition, after the child is born, show love to that child because a child’s status or worth is not determined by the manner in which they were conceived. They are still made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27), as God has permitted their existence even if he and the Church would oppose the manner of conception. And then encourage the parent(s) not to conceive in this manner again, and also encourage them to reconcile with the Church via a good Catholic priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
For more on this topic, see this video with Dr. George Delgado on “Why In Vitro Fertilization Is Wrong.” In addition, see this article and two others, including “Preaching Points on In Vitro Fertilization,” from the National Catholic Bioethics Center.