Q. What are your thoughts on taking fertility medicine to help a woman actually conceive? Is it Biblical to use medications or procedures to aid (or force) conception? Is IVF a sin?
A. Contrary to popular belief, a Biblical "quiverfull" person does not seek to have as many children as they can have. They have simply handed their wombs to God for His use. They are choosing to let God "build their house" and create as many souls as He pleases, when He pleases, without using human intervention one way or the other. Only God knows how many arrows He wants in our quiver, and only He should be allowed to decide when and if He creates life.
I believe that a couple is to leave ALL family planning to God. If He chooses to give you none by birth, then fine, but if He chooses to give you 22, that's fine, as well.
****One of the best verses in the Bible to point out that only GOD knows when our quiver is full is this: "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord keeps the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Psalm 127:1
* The word “builds” in Hebrew is “Banah,” which actually means “to obtain children.”
* A form of "banah" is also used for the word "house," which is translated as "especially family."
* Then, the word "keep" is shamar" which is translated, "hedge about/protect/preserve."
* "In Vain" is "shav" = "or shav {shav}; in the sense of desolating; evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive, objective; also adverbially, in vain)"
*Remember, This is also the same Psalm that talks of how happy a man is who has a quiver full of children!
The issue of IVF is a difficult issue. Again, we are dealing with taking measures into our own hands when God has proved time and again in the Bible to be the “creator and taker of life.” There have been many precious children created through IVF. Some have even been adopted by other infertile couples through embryo adoption, instead of being discarded or donated for scientific experiments. This is a wonderful outcome, but is it Biblical to "assist God" in creating a life in that way; to create it and freeze it for “later use”; to create it and donate it to someone else to parent; to donate for scientific experimentation? Some of those answers are obvious in Scripture and some are not.
I believe that IVF is ethically and morally wrong, without a doubt, if the embryos are frozen. NOT because I am against the "creation" of a new child, but because there are children who are frozen right now – their lives put on hold - in the name of scientific advancements. Another factor to consider is the death of the embryos during the thawing process. The chance of death for the thawing embryos is quite high. So the primary issues I have with IVF is the freezing and thawing of the embryos (and therefore, sometimes killing) human life. That is the area that really bothers me.
As for me, if I had birthed no children of my own, had experienced long-term secondary infertility or experienced an indefinite number of miscarriages, I would never turn to IVF or any other fertility treatments, simply because I believe the above verse Psalm 127:1, to be true….the LORD builds the house and we labor in vain when we try to take over His job. Might something wonderful come of it? Yes! But I don’t feel that it’s my domain to take control over. So, I do not condone IVF or any other fertility medicine due to these beliefs. If someone were to initially use every embryo created through their IVF procedure and never freeze them, I can't point to any Scripture that blatantly says that there's anything inherently wrong with that. BUT that is rarely done.
I do believe that adoption is a wonderful option for couples dealing with any or all of the above conditions! I am an adoptive mom who went through a small time of infertility and then repeated (5) miscarriages. Our family was led to a specific ministry of adoption even after I had my progesterone levels stabilized (more here) and was able to conceive as God saw fit. I also know of many "quiverfull" parents who chose to be used of the Lord through adoption! We all feel much blessed through our adoptions, but the couples that were unable to conceive on their own and pursued adoption see now that God chose them to be infertile so that they could have the ministry they have. There are SO MANY children out there who need good, godly, Christian parents, and there are not enough people are willing to make those sacrifices. Remember that Pure Religion is defined in James 1:27 as taking care of widows and orphans. The original text actually points to providing them a home! If you are dealing with infertility for any reason, please pray and look into adopting a child that God may have chosen for you from the foundations of the earth!
I hope this answered the question sufficiently, as to why I believe we should give total control of our wombs to God, as Christian women. If I missed addressing something, please comment and I’ll attempt to address any further questions!
Lisa Metzger
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Jun. 15, 2009 - question for you