That’s not true. The fertility treatments my wife and I went through were in no way in conflict with Church teachings.
I am an executive at a company that supports some of the top fertility practices in the U.S. A few points:
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Irishgirl offered some solid insights. ICSI is a common treatment for men with low sperm counts.
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Seeing an Reproductive Endocrinologist doesn’t have to mean IVF. There are a number of treatments that can be tried before IVF need be considered. The most important thing to do would be to see an RE - in addition to an OB/Gyn; RE’s are specialists that have far more knowledge and experience in this area.
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IVF is expensive, but there are ways to defray the costs. For instance, fertility clinics in our network offer something called the Shared Risk Refund program. If a person applies and qualifies, they pay the equivalent of almost 2 cycles of IVF treatment, but would be entitled to 6 cycles - 3 fresh and 3 with frozen embryos. The success rates for Shared Risk patients who stick with the treatment plan is about 75% - really quite strong. If, however, a woman doesn’t become pregnant, most of the payment (I think 70% or so - but you would have to check with your specific fertility doc) is refunded. Between the success rates and the ability to get money back - which of course be applied to, say, fund an adoption process - a couple can keep their options open.
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Regarding moral choices - you obviously must go with what works for you. I wish you luck and strength as you evaluate your options. A huge number of our fertility patients are Catholic. Everyone must make their own choices.
Hope this helps.
I would also encourage you to research adoption. There are so many myths about adoption out there it is important to do some research before drawing any conclusions. As someone earlier in the thread said, “Conception and pregnancy are only a very small part of parenting”…I think that applies to adoption too.
Personally I am not comfortable with the idea of taking steps like IVF either, for moral reasons. If when the time comes I can’t conceive, I am hoping that I will be at peace with coming to conclusion that just means I was meant to be the parent to an adopted child instead!
Best wishes in finding a way to achieve your goals that you’re comfortable with.
That’s very true.
I talked about the moral aspects of this as a response to posters who would minimize this concern, or deem it irrelevant. I didn’t think that was the right response. People should be informed in their choices on this subject by many things, and one of them obviously is their personal morality.
By saying this, I’m not disparaging in any way people who choose differently than we did. That isn’t my place at all.