In Vitro Fertilization

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Human Dignity at the Earliest Stage of Life

Life begins at the moment of fertilization. At that moment, a new human being exists, one who has never existed before and will never exist again. No matter how conception occurs, every human life deserves respect, dignity, and protection.

For this reason, the pro-life mission, and Tennessee Right to Life specifically, must consider the ethical implications of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and its impact on human embryos.

What Is In Vitro Fertilization?

In vitro fertilization is a procedure used as a response to infertility. Rather than identifying or treating the underlying causes of infertility, IVF attempts to bypass them by uniting sperm and egg in a laboratory setting—in vitro, meaning “in glass.”

The IVF process typically involves:

Administering hormones to a woman to stimulate the production of multiple eggs (often 10–20 per cycle)
Fertilizing those eggs with sperm in a laboratory
Allowing embryos to grow for 5–6 days
Evaluating and grading embryos before deciding which will be transferred into the womb

From a pro-life perspective, it is essential to recognize that each embryo created through IVF is a distinct human life.

Ethical Concerns with IVF

The Destruction of Human Embryos

Most IVF procedures involve creating multiple embryos to increase the chance of a successful pregnancy. However, not all embryos are implanted.

Embryos not selected for transfer may be:

Discarded as medical waste
Used for research
Frozen indefinitely
Abandoned if storage fees are no longer paid

It is estimated that more than 1 million frozen human embryos are currently in storage in the United States. Many will never be given the chance to live.

These embryos are often the biological siblings of children already born through IVF. Parents are then faced with agonizing decisions, whether to destroy, donate, or indefinitely freeze their remaining children.

None of these outcomes honors the dignity of human life. We would never accept such treatment for human beings at any other stage of development.

Selective Reduction

When multiple embryos are transferred to the womb and more than one implants successfully, doctors may recommend “selective reduction”—a euphemism for abortion.

This procedure typically involves injecting potassium chloride directly into the heart of one or more unborn children, intentionally ending their lives to reduce the number of babies carried to term.

The IVF industry routinely creates life, and then destroys it, without ethical hesitation.

Genetic Screening and Discrimination

Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) is commonly used to screen embryos for genetic traits, disabilities, or perceived imperfections.

Embryos that do not meet desired standards are usually discarded.

A just society does not eliminate human beings because they are weak, disabled, or vulnerable. Yet IVF normalizes exactly this kind of discrimination, before birth.

Surrogacy and Commodification

IVF is a necessary component of gestational surrogacy, a practice that raises additional ethical concerns.

Surrogacy:

Requires the creation and destruction of embryos
Allows children to be treated as products
Involves paying women to carry babies under contractual arrangements

This turns human life into a commodity, something to be bought, sold, or aborted.

Surrogacy Turns Babies in Commodities to be Bought and Sold or Aborted, And That’s Wrong – LifeNews.com

What Happens to Embryos in IVF?

The IVF process routinely subjects embryos to repeated risks:

Extra Embryos Created: Multiple embryos are fertilized due to low implantation success rates
Implantation Loss: Many embryos die during transfer or fail to implant
Frozen Embryos: Remaining embryos are cryogenically frozen with uncertain futures
Repeat Cycles: Embryos may be thawed and re-implanted multiple times, increasing the risk of death

How many human embryos die so that one might live?
This question deserves serious reflection.

Similarities Between the IVF Industry and the Abortion Industry

Although the IVF industry claims to help people have children, troubling parallels exist:

Both profit financially from desperate situations
Both minimize or obscure the fate of unborn children
Both operate with limited regulation and oversight
Both fail to provide full informed consent

Even in pro-life states like Tennessee, the IVF industry remains largely unregulated. This lack of oversight has resulted in:

Embryos destroyed by freezer malfunctions
Children implanted into the wrong families
Custody disputes and lawsuits
Long-term trauma for parents and children

Tennessee Right to Life’s Position

Tennessee Right to Life is committed to protecting human life at all ages, stages, and conditions, including embryonic human beings created through IVF.

Infertility is real. The pain is real. But ethical solutions must respect human dignity rather than sacrifice it.