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Infertility, Reproductive Tech, and Adoption

Life In Christ

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  1. Chapters

  2. 0:04 Opening Prayer

  3. 0:35 Infertility and Its Impact

  4. 11:13 Reproductive Technology Explained

  5. 19:56 Moral Principles of Reproductive Technology

  6. 25:34 Embryo Adoption

  7. 27:40 Genetic Screening Considerations

  8. 34:49 Cloning and Its Implications

  9. 36:31 The Blessing of Adoption

  10. Transcript

  11. [0:04]Opening Prayer

  12. [0:00]I'm going to pray first and then I'll get into this. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to meet and to dive into your word on various topics. It's been a really wonderful thing for me to be diving into the Christian ethics. I pray for good pacing today. I pray for wisdom. I pray that anything that I say that is not true to your word is just slipping right by. And that anything that is good and true would be elevated in Jesus' name. Amen. Ben, can you hear me in the back? Perfect. All right.

  13. [0:35]Infertility and Its Impact

  14. [0:35]Today, I will be talking about the topic of infertility, reproductive technology as a human response to that, and how it can be used well to aid in infertility, and also how it can be used immorally. And finally, on the topic of adoption, how God gave us adoption for a multitude of reasons, one of which is to give us hope in light of infertility and that trial. So first, there's many examples of infertility in the Old and New Testaments. In Genesis, we see that the curse affected women specifically in childbearing.

  15. [1:09]Genesis 3.16 says, To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desires shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you. The phrase, in pain you shall bring forth children, is definitely shown in how physically painful childbirth is and how difficult pregnancy can be for many women. Another aspect of this pain, and certainly an incredible source of sorrow, is infertility. How true it is that the lack of children for those that desire them brings incredible sorrow. It can strain marriage, and especially for the wife, infertility can and does bring about emotional pain. For the husband, infertility can bring about that emotional pain, but also a feeling of inadequacy. I'm gonna have people read as I go through, So could somebody open up to Genesis 16, 1, somebody to Genesis 21, I'll have you read 1 through 7, and Judges 13, 2 through 3. Some of these examples, the first one I'll read, Genesis 11, verse 30. Now Sarah, or Sarai, was barren. She had no child. And then somebody can read Genesis 16, verse 1.

    Genesis 11:30 Genesis 16:1

  16. [2:16]And then Genesis 21, one through seven, please. So we see from these passages, first, the barrenness of Sarah and Abraham, how they could not have children, and then God's provision for them. Next, Judges 13, verses two through three, please. Another great example here. Well, a sad example, and then a wonderful example of God's provision. The infertility of Manoah and his wife. Yeah, it's a beautiful thing that the Lord provided Samson for them. 1 Samuel 1, verse 2.

    1 Samuel 1:2

  17. [2:49]The man had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Penaniah. And Penaniah had children, but Hannah had no children. 1 Samuel 1, then 6 through 13 says, And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons? After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will bear to your servant a son. Then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall touch his head. As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli took her to be a drunken woman. So here we see the sorrow of Hannah due to her infertility. In fact, she was so emotionally devastated by this that in her prayer to the Lord for healing and provision of a child, Eli actually thought that she was drunk.

  18. [4:11]We also see how Elkanah was emotionally devastated by his lack of ability to fulfill her desires as husband. Finally, we see God's provision for these two in the birth of their son, Samuel. We don't get to that in this, but we know God provided Samuel to them. Next, we look to Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1. Could I have someone open to Luke 1, 57 through 59? We see again here God's miraculous intervention, but I'll have you somebody can read that now please so I guess I did not have this verse included but we see earlier in Luke 1 but they had no children because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years, Again, there we see God's miraculous intervention. These narrative examples show us that overcoming infertility that pleases God and is often a manifestation of his special blessing on a couple. Another example personal to me is actually my own parents. When they were first married, they were not able to have kids for several years. For clarity's sake, this was due to my mother having a procedure done from her first marriage after she had several kids to keep her from having children. And then when my parents were married, they desired children and they sought medical intervention. They went through many tests and procedures, and they were told by doctors that it was going to be completely impossible for them to have kids after everything had been exhausted.

  19. [5:36]In their words, shortly after this, it sounds when they tell a story like it was a couple of months later, they found out that my mom was pregnant with my sister, and then with me, and then with my younger sister, and then actually with another child that was miscarried, and then with my youngest sister. So God provided graciously to my parents, and I mean, I consider myself and my siblings a miracle for that. That's a wonderful thing. So then we have passages. I'm gonna read three of these. And then I'm gonna ask a couple of you to read two. Would someone open to Isaiah 54, 1 and Galatians 4, 27. So Psalms 113, 9 says, he gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord. Exodus 23, 26 says, none shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. Deuteronomy 7 verse 14 says, you shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you. And then please read Isaiah 54.1. I know that one when it's first read can look like the joy is coming from not having children at a really light glance, but here we see God's provision for the barren one. Her children are going to be more than the one who is married. Galatians 4.27, please.

    Deuteronomy 7:14

  20. [6:52]And then Psalm 127, verse three says, behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. These passages show us clearly that children are a great blessing from God. Next, I'm gonna look at just something that's true and we should not ignore. It's a feeling of grief and childlessness. I suppose I did say this at the beginning. It's been established as we've gone through this series that those of us that are teaching are going through Wayne Grudem's Christian ethics. books.

  21. [7:19]Most of the data and the detail is from what he has in that book. Grudem speaks about a feeling of grief in childlessness. We've already established in several examples, especially in Hannah, Samuel's mother, and Rachel in Genesis chapter 30. Genesis 30 verse one says, when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, give me children or I shall die. God and his wisdom shows compassion and awareness of the deep grief of childlessness. That grief is felt by childless couples, that grief that is felt by childless couples must not be minimized or dismissed lightly by others. Especially not pastors, counselors, but especially friends. Also, well, thinking of only women are able to bear and nurse children. This grief can be especially acute for those women due to the sense of loss and not being able to jointly conceive and not being able to experience pregnancy and not being able to go through birth and breastfeeding of a child and not being able to serve as a mother for her own children. It's a very hard thing for many to go through.

    Genesis 30 chapter mention

  22. [8:25]It's something that the Lord draws people to him through. Faith in the midst of this sorrow is the next point that we're going to talk about. Sometimes a childless couple will wonder if their situation is a result of God's displeasure or discipline and this will make it difficult for them to believe that God has good purposes for them and for their lives. But the example of Zachariah and Elizabeth in the beginning of Luke's gospel shows that infertility can happen even to a godly, morally exemplary couple, because Zechariah and Elizabeth were both righteous before God. I'm going to read Luke 1, 5-7. Would someone please open to read 1 Peter 1, 6-9? Luke 1, 5-7. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. It's an important thing to recognize that the ability to have children is a difficult trial, the kind of suffering that many couples endure privately and silently in such situations. Scripture passages that deal with trials and suffering in the Christian life often help in encouraging people's faith. Would someone please read 1 Peter 1, 6-9?

  23. [9:43]Thank you. Here we see Peter encouraging believers that are going through trials to continue in faith, which is very precious to God and which will result in great reward. In addition, he encourages suffering believers to love Christ and believe in Him for that relationship with Him will fill them with joy. James 1, 2-4 says, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Another word for that is patience. And let steadfastness or patience have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. It'll also be an encouragement for infertile couples to remember that Jesus, specifically, but also Paul, had no physical children, but both found great fulfillment in the ministries that God had entrusted to them. They had many spiritual children who came into the kingdom of God and were nurtured by their ministries. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4.15, For you have countless guides in Christ, for though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. But I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. In Galatians 4, 19, he calls the Galatian Christians my little children. In 1 Timothy 1, verse 2, he calls Timothy my true child in the faith, and similarly calls Titus my true child in a common faith in Titus 1, verse 4. Peter, in 1 Peter 5, 13, refers to Mark as Mark my son.

    1 Timothy 1:2 Titus 1:4

  24. [11:07]Any questions on this topic that's the first section we're going to cover i'll open it up for discussion for a minute or two.

  25. [11:13]Reproductive Technology Explained

  26. [11:13]So having established infertility as a major trial for many believers, let's look at reproductive technology. This is the human response through God's provision of the world that we have around us. Grudem gives us three moral principles to consider in relation to reproductive technology. The first, they are first that modern medicine in general is morally good. Second, we should treat the unborn child as a human person from the moment of conception. And third, that God intends that a child should be conceived by and born to a man and woman who are married to each other.

  27. [11:45]For the first point that modern medicine in general is morally good, I'll read out a couple of scriptures. In Genesis 1, verse 28, we see, and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. God's command to fill the earth and subdue it and to have dominion and over every living thing that moves on the earth, gives us warrant to discover and develop the resources that God put for us on this earth, including resources that are useful for medicinal purposes. This point is reinforced by the fact that all of the medicines we have today are made from resources found in the earth, and this fact is driven home by Psalm 24 verse 1, which says, The earth is the Lord, and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. We also see in Jesus' ministry of healing, that God is pleased when we try to help people overcome diseases and disability. Luke 4, verse 40 says, Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. This was a common pattern in Jesus's earthly ministry, and the inclusive nature of the expression, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases, allows us to suppose that Jesus also healed infertility in many.

    Genesis 1:28 Psalms 24:1 Luke 4:40

  28. [13:09]And many who were unable to conceive and bear children then were. I know we see later in the New Testament, I can't remember the exact place, but there were no sick throughout all of Judea, which tells us this was definitely the case.

  29. [13:24]The example I gave earlier of my parents showed that modern medicine didn't allow for them to have their children, that it was a miraculous healing from the Lord. However, when I was born, modern medicine kept me alive. And I think it's an excellent personal example of how the Lord provided through it. I inhaled amniotic fluid when I was born. Some of you know that when that happens, your lungs, your esophagus are just filled with that fluid and there's no way to breathe. I was black and blue almost immediately, but thankfully a nurse noticed really quickly They cleared my lungs out, but I was on the edge of surviving and was kept in the NICU for about two weeks. So modern medicine was the method that God used to save my life in that. Another example is my niece, Ellie. In the last, like two and a half years ago, a lot of you were praying with my family through this when my sister was pregnant with her. The doctors did their normal scans, and they found that her heart had a malformation, the two great veins were twisted. And I don't remember the name for this, but it required open heart surgery immediately after she was born. She's a happy, healthy, almost three-year-old today. She was just hanging out with me and Asha yesterday.

  30. [14:37]Praise God for modern medicine and the way that it's used to save lives. So... The next principle is that we should treat the unborn child as a human person from the moment of conception. There's many scriptures we can look to for this. Some of my favorites are Psalm 51 verse five. This is David saying, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. He says later in Psalm 139 verse 13, but for you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. In the old covenant, We see in Exodus 21 verses 20 through 2 through 25 that if an unborn child died, even because of an accidental injury, the one who caused the unborn child to die was subject to capital punishment. We see Jacob and Esau, they were viewed as two unique children who would become two separate nations struggling within Rebecca's womb. That's Genesis 25, 22 through 23. And then in Luke 1, 44, Elizabeth notes that in the sixth month of her pregnancy, she said the baby in her womb leaped for joy, which is surely a human action. So let's see. These passages are relevant to the question of reproductive technology because they mean that we should not condone any such technology that will certainly lead to the death of even one unborn child who was conceived when the man's sperm fertilized the woman's egg. The cells begin to divide and the human embryo began to grow into a little baby. So that's where we stake that claim.

    Psalms 139:13

  31. [16:05]Probably Grudem here makes the point that God intends that a child should be conceived by and born, yep, to a man and woman who are married to each other. He makes the point that with this principle, he is somewhat more hesitant than the first two because this principle is not derived from any direct command in scripture, but rather from a pattern of biblical narratives and implications from biblical moral commands about some related topics. I was kind of surprised to hear that because this seems like such a.

  32. [16:32]Foundational thing, and it is. It's something we can see very clearly from the passages that he uses. We're gonna look at Genesis 1, verse 28. We see the command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. That verse by itself does not say that there are no other means of producing children, but it is the foundational pattern of marriage within scripture.

    Genesis 1:28

  33. [16:52]And it's the first instance of the command to be faithful. I'm going to read Genesis 2, 24 through 25, and then I'm gonna ask somebody to read in Exodus 20, verse 14, and then somebody else to read in Matthew 15, verse 19. So Genesis 2, 24 through 25 says, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed. Adam and Eve were called the man and his wife. And this passage uses the relationship between Adam and Eve for the pattern, for marriage generationally and onward. So next, we're going to look at God's repeated commands against adultery. If someone could please read Exodus 20, verse 14. Thank you. And Matthew 15, verse 19. There's many other passages in the Bible that talk to us about God's commands against adultery. We've got Leviticus 20, verse 10, Proverbs 6, verse 32, Deuteronomy 5, 18, Romans 13, 9, James 2, 11, 2 Peter 2, 14, and I'm sure there's many more. These commands all support the idea that, or this idea, that a child should be born within the context of a married man and a woman.

    Exodus 20:14 Matthew 15:19 Exodus 20:14 Matthew 15:19 Leviticus 20:10 Proverbs 6:32

  34. [18:08]All right, there we go. Then we have Exodus 22, 16. If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. This passage shows us that the general principle is that marriage should occur. It's repeated in Deuteronomy 22, verses 28 through 29. The specific provision of the law guaranteed that if a man had intercourse, a man and a woman had intercourse, they would be married, guaranteeing that the child would be born in that context. Jesus, in his teaching against divorce, gave further protection that guaranteed that children would be born within marriage. The general principle is found in Matthew 19, verse 6, So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. The prohibitions against sexual immorality also seek to ensure that sexual intercourse occurs only within the context of marriage. This would guarantee that children would be conceived within the context of marriage. There's quite a few other passages on this. We've got more in 1 Corinthians 6.18, 2 Corinthians 12.21, Galatians 5.19, Ephesians 5.3, Colossians 3.5, 1 Thessalonians 4.3.

    Deuteronomy 22:28–29 Matthew 19:6

  35. [19:25]Grudem says, this broad pattern of scriptural teaching then leads me to conclude that a child should be conceived by and born to a man and a woman who are married to each other and in no other situation or relationship.

  36. [19:37]That is the three principles that we're looking at. I'll repeat those again quickly. We've got modern medicine in general is morally good. We should treat the unborn child as a human person from the moment of conception. And God intends that a child should be conceived by and born to a man and woman

  37. [19:56]Moral Principles of Reproductive Technology

  38. [19:55]who are married to each other. So with those principles, we can now look at specific case examples of reproductive technology. The first is artificial insemination by the husband, sometimes titled AIH. This process does not violate any of the biblical principles named above. It simply enables a wife to become pregnant by her husband when, for some reason, it is unlikely or impossible for this to happen through ordinary intercourse. This process is done by collection of the husband's sperm and injection into the wife using a medical device. The child is conceived by and born to a woman and a man who are married to each other. No unborn human is destroyed in the process, and the wonderful result is that infertility is overcome by this couple. The next process that we will look at is in vitro fertilization, without the destruction of embryos. This in vitro fertilization is often entitled or abbreviated IVF, IVF, is the process of joining together a woman's egg and a husband's sperm in a laboratory rather than inside a woman's body.

  39. [21:01]Grudem notes here that evangelical Christians differ on the moral acceptability of this procedure, and he indicates that some respected evangelical writers argue that IVF is always morally unacceptable. His position, Grudem's, is that in principle, there should be no more objection to IVF according to scriptural standards as long as no human embryos are destroyed in the process because it is simply enabling an infertile husband and wife to have children and thereby overcoming infertility by means of modern medicine. Another objection can be that it is not the natural process of conception that God intended, but such an argument must assume a definition of natural that arbitrarily excludes modern medicine from what we consider a part of nature.

  40. [21:50]Grudem asks, is not the laboratory equipment that is used for IVF also made from resources that God planted in the earth, and are not the medical researchers and medical technicians, with all their wisdom and skill, part of God's creation also? He uses a few other analogies, such as a woman using a thermometer to check her temperature to find when in her cycle she will be best able to conceive, and a man using medicine to overcome dysfunction that would make him infertile, so that they are able to conceive. He states, therefore, there seems to be no valid reason to object to IVF on the grounds that it is not part of the natural process that God established for the conception of children. Modern medicine is used to overcome a disability, no unborn children's lives are destroyed, and the child is conceived by and born to a man and a woman who are married to each other. However, IVF is often carried out in a way that destroys multiple human embryos on the grounds that it is not.

  41. [22:50]Oops, sorry, I went back. It is often used, carried out in a way that destroys multiple human embryos and therefore results in the destruction of human life. This happens because in order to increase the probability of pregnancy, more of the wife's eggs may be fertilized in laboratory equipment than are actually implanted in her womb. In most cases, couples going through IVF or multiple embryos are created. When this happens, they can choose one of the following options for the remaining embryos. This is what happens in modern medicine. First, freezing cryopreservation is the term for it, of unimplanted embryos for use potentially by the couple in any future treatment cycles. The next would be anonymously donating the embryos for use by other infertile couples. We'll talk about that more in another topic later. And three, this would be allowing the embryos to develop in the laboratory until they perish, at which time they are discarded, which is usually six to eight days after conception and usually within six to eight days of collection.

  42. [23:54]Grudem says that the fertilization of multiple eggs is not necessary. However, technological development of IVF has reached the point where, if a couple wishes to fertilize only one or two eggs and then have them both implanted in the mother's womb, this can be done. In such cases, Grudem thinks that IVF is morally acceptable. He then cites, and I respect him for this, he cites two men he respects named John and Paul Feinberg, who disagree with him on this topic. They argue that IVF is always morally unacceptable because the success rate is so low. These men were valued colleagues of Grudem when he taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. They write, If the success rates of IVF had risen to 95, or even 80-85%, we would be more sympathetic to it. But IVF technology is currently nowhere near such success rates. We find the loss of so much human life morally unacceptable.

  43. [24:51]Success rates are at best only about 17% when one embryo is used. Because of this, too many human lives are lost to think it is morally acceptable. Grudem's response here is that fertilizing only one or two eggs at a time and implanting them with the hope that they will survive is far different from the common practice of IVF where several eggs are fertilized and then most of them are intentionally destroyed. In that case, there is willful destruction of human life. But with the fertilization of only several eggs at a time, the intent of the doctor and the husband and the wife is that all the fertilized eggs will live and come to normal birth. Therefore, Grudem says that this kind of IVF, in his argument, is morally acceptable.

  44. [25:34]Embryo Adoption

  45. [25:34]The next reproductive technology we will look at is embryo adoption. We talked earlier about the second option that these couples have when there's more embryos than they're going to use. They can, the term in my head is abandon those embryos and give them up for other couples to use.

  46. [25:53]As noted before during the case of IVF, there we go, multiple of a woman's eggs are fertilized and more are fertilized than are implanted. Instead of the destruction of those embryos, some couples can freeze them in case they decide to have more children later. As of 2015, it's estimated that there are, so we got 11 years back now, more than 1 million frozen embryos in the United States alone. Many of them will never be claimed or used by the original parents. One possibility is that other couples might adopt these embryos and have them implanted in the wife's womb and allow them to grow and be born as normal children. Gurdum says, well, we should not encourage or give approval to the process of creating embryos that will not be used in the first place. Once they have been created, they seem to be in a situation very similar to that of orphans. In James 1 verse 27, we see that religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. If we consider these frozen embryos as orphans, which I think is right, who have been abandoned by their parents, then it clearly seemed morally right for the couples to adopt them and raise them as their own adopted children.

    James 1:27

  47. [27:08]Some people may wonder if there is damage to the physical or mental development of these children as a result of existing in a frozen state over a period of time. One example that shows that this is not the case, and there are many others of these so-called snowflake children that have been born after being frozen for many years and live healthy lives. One specific example is a girl named Marley Jade. She was born in America in 2016 after being frozen for more than 17 years, and she's perfectly healthy today at the time of the writing of Rudim's Christian Ethics.

  48. [27:40]Genetic Screening Considerations

  49. [27:41]All right. Well, I'll open up for discussion at the end. I have to try to finish up here quickly, and I'm using a lot of time, but we'll look at next pre-fertilization genetic screening for genetic diseases. It's now possible to genetically screen a husband prior to fertilization of a woman's egg through IVF or prior to artificial insemination by the husband. This screening can determine if some genetic diseases will be passed on from the father to the children. Gurdum says that since the male sperm by itself is not yet a human person, he sees no moral objection to this procedure in itself, if used to prevent the conception of a child who would likely have a serious medical issue or genetically transmitted disease such as cystic fibrosis, the heart malformation, hemophilia, Huntington's disease, and then some sexually transmitted diseases are also possible. However, the same procedure can also be used not just to prevent diseases, but to allow parents to choose among various types of perfectly healthy children. They could use this to choose between having a male child alone or a female child alone. They could use this to...

  50. [28:50]Well, today, things like that are possible. In the future, it's probable that the type of selection may include the possibility of choosing a minimum height that which the child could grow to, the color of eyes, hair, or even IQ level. Would this be right? Probably not, right? I would argue no.

  51. [29:09]Grudem says that he would seriously question the motives of couples who would seek to have such or to make such selections. These are not cases of attempting to prevent diseases that are a result of the fall and of sin and death coming into the world, but rather are choices among the wonderful diversity and variety of human persons that would have resulted from God's creation at the beginning, even with no sin or death in the world, especially regarding the matter of whether the child is a boy or a girl. That that preference could reflect some underlying prejudice that one or the other is better and it would be contrary to god's creation of both men and women as wonderful bearers of his image, now i'm going to look at morally or modern reproductive technology that are morally unacceptable by the same three moral principles we've already established the first is ivf with selective reduction in many cases numerous eggs are fertilized and the doctor will then take these eggs, and he will go and pick the best, most healthy looking one or two, sometimes three, and discard the rest of them. Those two or three will be implanted in the woman, and the rest are then they murdered. Murdered is the word for it. Thank you, Ron. Yep.

  52. [30:26]So this procedure leads to the destruction of the embryos that are not implanted. It's the destruction of human life and very clearly, therefore, is not morally acceptable.

  53. [30:37]Similarly, or similar to IVF with selective implantation, or no, selective reduction, is IVF with multi-fetal pregnancy reduction. This is where multiple eggs more than can survive are implanted in the woman. And then after they grow for a certain amount of time, I believe it's well, that does not say here, a week or two, the one or two strongest and healthiest are allowed to survive and the rest are aborted. Again, murder. So we see this is clearly not morally acceptable. The next, we will look at artificial insemination by donor. It's called AID. It's the implantation of sperm that is not from the husband. Grudem argues clearly that this point oversteps the boundaries of the pattern of laws that God established in scripture, which also sought to guarantee that a child would be conceived by and born to a married couple. While people might differ as to whether this is technically adultery, it certainly is a transgression of the normal means by which God planned for children to be conceived and born. It can also introduce significant stress into a marriage. If a woman goes through this process, she will go through the intensely personal and life-changing experience of carrying a child through pregnancy to birth without the deep satisfaction of knowing that a child inside her was conceived by her husband. This might lead the mother to desire to meet that man and uh grudem argues that such emotional complexities will not be healthy for the marriage relationship i agree.

  54. [32:05]Use of AID by a woman who has no husband is also morally unacceptable as this violates God's intent that children should be conceived by and born to a woman, a married man and woman. Now we're going to look at surrogate motherhood. Sometimes a married woman who is physically unable to carry and bear children herself will reach an agreement with another woman who agrees to be impregnated with the original couple's embryo and carry the child to turn. This could involve either IVF or artificial insemination by donor using the husband's sperm, but the surrogate's mother's womb. This arrangement, or no, no, that would be artificial insemination by donor could actually be the husband's sperm and the surrogate's mother's egg. This arrangement seems to violate God's intention that children should be conceived by and born again to a man and a woman who are married to each other. There have been several examples in modern medicine, modern day where surrogate mothers who agreed to carry a baby to term for a couple later reneged on their agreement and kept the child for themselves. This gets incredibly messy in modern courts. We have multiple examples of these cases going high, high up in our law system. And one court will say that it is the original couple's child and another court will say that it is the surrogate mother's child.

  55. [33:30]We also see examples in scripture of surrogate motherhood, which is somewhat different than modern day surrogacy because of the medical advancements we have today. But I think that it actually slams the point home better. We have in Genesis 16, one through five, the story of Sarai and Abram before they were Sarah and Abraham, where Sarai gives Abram Hagar as a surrogate, we'll say.

  56. [33:56]We have from the story Ishmael And we see how Sarai then goes to hate Hagar. Hagar goes to hate Sarah. And the children, Isaac and Ishmael, go on to become not just brothers that war against each other, but nations that war against each other and still do today. We also see this example in Jacob when both of his wives did the same thing and offered their servants to him so that they would have more children. Jacob's children, as an example, tried to kill their brother Joseph. And when they didn't kill him, they sold him into slavery. Grudem states that infertility is a cause of deep sorrow, distress, and grief for many couples, and we must recognize and show understanding and compassion for those who experience this grief. But it is not a valid reason to overstep the moral boundaries that God has set

  57. [34:49]Cloning and Its Implications

  58. [34:46]in his word concerning the conception and bearing of children. The last that we're going to look at in this section is cloning. I did not expect to see cloning here. I was surprised, but it's good that Gruden covered it. So he says that he is unsure whether we should have a moral objection to the cloning of plants and animals. Those things are possible today based on the fact that they are not created in the image of God. But when it comes to humans, when it comes to we who are made in the image of God.

  59. [35:17]I'll state here for clarity, we cannot currently clone a human being that we know of. This has not happened. With that being said, if in the future we can clone physically a human body, the concept of trying to create a person that we are made in the image of God, if you were to clone me, that person would not be made in the image of God. And Grudem actually asked the question, would this force God to implant a soul in this person who is not the person being cloned? Of course, we can't force God to do anything. We have, through scripture to support this, the truth of the soul, this thing that we can't see, we do not understand, we don't know how it's implanted. There's actually a verse that I'm sure I've read before, but in Ecclesiastes 11, verse 5, it stated, as you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. I see cloning as a attempt by humans to become God. It's another Tower of Babel. I would say it's more heinous than the Tower of Babel.

    Ecclesiastes 11:5

  60. [36:27]Grudem says, and I agree, that this is something that we should never support morally as Christians.

  61. [36:31]The Blessing of Adoption

  62. [36:31]Now, we get into the wonderful topic of adoption. It's 9.43. When am I done? Thank you. So, I got two minutes. We'll do this fast.

  63. [36:40]We got John 1, verse 12, but to all who did not receive him, who believed in his name, sorry, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Romans 8, 14, for all who are led by the Spirit, of God, but for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Galatians 4, 4-7, but when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship because you are his sons. God sent the Spirit to his son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has made you an heir. But Grudem does not spend much time on adoption. His argument, and I agree with him, is that this is such, there's so clearly something given to us by the Lord, not only to overcome infertility, but also to couples who have their own children and desire more, and to provide for orphans in their distress. It's a beautiful thing. It's also an incredible picture that God gives us to see who he is, see his love for us. Let's see, here we go. Yep, I thank God for the beautiful picture of his love for us that we have through adoption. It is, it so clearly shows how well we did nothing to deserve his love. He made us his children, true children.

    John 1:12

  64. Yeah, I write here, I'm certain that through adoption, we have the opportunity to look through another lens that shows us his character and love. We have no time for questions. So, brother, I asked you to pray to close, would you please?