(Napro) Helping childless couples
With fertility levels in the Western world declining, many couples nowadays find that ‘starting a family’ is not as easy as they had hoped.
For some, the absence of kids from their marriage may not be a big deal; but for others, it is a huge issue. These couples desperately want to become mothers and fathers.
Their hearts yearn for a child, but as the years pass, it just doesn’t happen for them. At this point they begin to think seriously about fertility treatment. Sadly, many of them choose in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
This form of fertility treatment first came to worldwide public attention on 25 July 1978 when the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born in Oldham, England.
Her birth was hailed as a major scientific advance, a breakthrough in the alleviation of infertility.
She became a symbol of what science could accomplish and personified the hope of infertile couples.
Since Louise’s birth, over one million children have been born through IVF throughout the world.
But while the Church rejoices at the birth of every new child and welcomes him or her to the human family, this does not mean that the Church considers IVF morally good.
Church teaching here needs to be urgently spelt out once again because many people, including many Catholics, are not aware of the ways in which IVF seriously transgresses the moral law.
Yet IVF presents us with a mixture of moral violations. First of all, the male semen used to fertilise the female eggs is usually acquired through masturbation, a violation of sexual ethics.
Sperm is then separated from the semen and is combined with the eggs in a glass petri dish to produce several embryonic human beings, some of which are then implanted.
This violates the basic right of every human being to be conceived through the personal, one-flesh communion of their parents.
But by far the most serious violation of the moral law concerns what happens to the human embryos that are not implanted in the womb.
They are discarded, frozen or handed over for scientific research. Thus a culture of death involving the killing and manipulation of human life is intrinsically part of IVF.
This dark side of IVF involves the misuse of science and the disregarding of ethical standards and the moral law.
Despite this, for many couples the yearning for a child can be so strong that hard reasoning and sound moral principles are sidelined.
The desire for a child can be turned into an absolute, even to the extent of using such bad means to achieve a good end.
There are alternatives, however, morally licit treatments that married couples can use in order to help them conceive a child.
One such procedure is Napro technology. The idea underlying this treatment is simple. As the website, fertilitycare.net, explains:
“Women are taught how to track the various phases of their fertility cycle with the help of a specially trained teacher. As a result we come to recognise if the fertility cycle is functioning normally or not.
“This information can be used for highly effective family planning and fertility treatment in harmony with the woman’s cycle.”
NaPro has been available in Ireland since 1998. Today there are nearly 40 practitioners here and over 2,000 couples have been treated, with an overall success rate of about 40%.
The success rates associated with IVF, according to UK statistics, peak at around 28.2% for women under 35, drop to 23.6% for women aged 35-37, and keep decreasing as the woman’s age increases.
For further info on Napro, contact the Galway Clinic, 091-720055, or info@fertilitycare.ie.
For some, the absence of kids from their marriage may not be a big deal; but for others, it is a huge issue. These couples desperately want to become mothers and fathers.
Their hearts yearn for a child, but as the years pass, it just doesn’t happen for them. At this point they begin to think seriously about fertility treatment. Sadly, many of them choose in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
This form of fertility treatment first came to worldwide public attention on 25 July 1978 when the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born in Oldham, England.
Her birth was hailed as a major scientific advance, a breakthrough in the alleviation of infertility.
She became a symbol of what science could accomplish and personified the hope of infertile couples.
Since Louise’s birth, over one million children have been born through IVF throughout the world.
But while the Church rejoices at the birth of every new child and welcomes him or her to the human family, this does not mean that the Church considers IVF morally good.
Church teaching here needs to be urgently spelt out once again because many people, including many Catholics, are not aware of the ways in which IVF seriously transgresses the moral law.
Yet IVF presents us with a mixture of moral violations. First of all, the male semen used to fertilise the female eggs is usually acquired through masturbation, a violation of sexual ethics.
Sperm is then separated from the semen and is combined with the eggs in a glass petri dish to produce several embryonic human beings, some of which are then implanted.
This violates the basic right of every human being to be conceived through the personal, one-flesh communion of their parents.
But by far the most serious violation of the moral law concerns what happens to the human embryos that are not implanted in the womb.
They are discarded, frozen or handed over for scientific research. Thus a culture of death involving the killing and manipulation of human life is intrinsically part of IVF.
This dark side of IVF involves the misuse of science and the disregarding of ethical standards and the moral law.
Despite this, for many couples the yearning for a child can be so strong that hard reasoning and sound moral principles are sidelined.
The desire for a child can be turned into an absolute, even to the extent of using such bad means to achieve a good end.
There are alternatives, however, morally licit treatments that married couples can use in order to help them conceive a child.
One such procedure is Napro technology. The idea underlying this treatment is simple. As the website, fertilitycare.net, explains:
“Women are taught how to track the various phases of their fertility cycle with the help of a specially trained teacher. As a result we come to recognise if the fertility cycle is functioning normally or not.
“This information can be used for highly effective family planning and fertility treatment in harmony with the woman’s cycle.”
NaPro has been available in Ireland since 1998. Today there are nearly 40 practitioners here and over 2,000 couples have been treated, with an overall success rate of about 40%.
The success rates associated with IVF, according to UK statistics, peak at around 28.2% for women under 35, drop to 23.6% for women aged 35-37, and keep decreasing as the woman’s age increases.
For further info on Napro, contact the Galway Clinic, 091-720055, or info@fertilitycare.ie.
