IVF 

My husband and I suffered secondary infertility after our first child and it was a great sorrow for us to have six miscarriages, but praise the Lord, he used it to draw us closer to the one true faith. As we began to believe in Him, He added one more child to our family. But this child was soon followed by three more miscarriages until we were crowned. Since our crowning on St Stephen's Day in 2022 and thanks to the intercessions of St Stylianos, St Anna and the Theotokos we have had no miscarriages, one more beautiful child, and another on the way! I became an expert in fertility along the way and counsel other couples on how to improve their chances through practical measures, but i never forget the power of faith, hope, and prayer because only He opens our wombs.

This was heavy but had to be heard.Thanks for sharing this Fr. Josiah.

Blessings dear father. Thank you for bringing light to this often ignored issue.

Thank you for your heartfelt doctrinal perspective on the IVF issue...love your Godly explanations.

Dear Father Josiah I live in an Orthodox traditional environment where they teach us that is MUST to get married and have children. It is big shame if this goal is not met. Couples without children are very often silently pushed on the side from the community. Because of this pressure me and my wife decided to go on IVF. May God have mercy on our sinful souls. I think this is also one very important topic the church should discuss. Glory to God☦️🙏🏻

Before embarking on our IVF journey my husband and I spoke to our priest who went to the Arch Bishop to gain advice for us. Only with their consent did we commence IVF and always used only our own egg and sperm ( no third party) and only created 3 embryos ( babies) per fresh cycle as I would try to bring every life to a full term pregnancy and not destroy and life. We were only blessed with one beautiful child and after miscarrying my last pregnancy decided our family was complete. Our Priest advised us that God gave man the intelligence to provide IVF so as long as we had complete respect for life and our marital vows we could participate in IVF.

Dear father, thank you so much for such salvific information. If only more voices within the church would inform and speak out! May God give you many blessed years!

Buy Fr. Josiah's book on Marriage - "Enduring Love: Laying Christian Foundations for Marriage" - Link in description!

I decided not to "push" my own agenda, because I just didn't feel right about IVF. My husband and I now help support 92 children whose fathers were soldiers killed in war by financially assisting their mothers or extended family to care for them. I'm thankful God and our church gave us that opportunity, plus nieces and nephews to love.

loved the sweetness of the church’s celebration of conception

Me and my wife were trying to have children for 10 years and we have been together for 18 years (since we were teenagers). We are 100% healthy and fertile we just couldn’t for some strange reason. I never lost hope and I prayed to God to eventually have children and then through IVF my son was born this year on Orthodox Easter. Not to long ago we baptized him. IVF is not a 100% to work. I cannot see how it can work without God being involved. I view my son as a miracle from God. There is not a week goes by that I am not saying to my wife “We have a son! It is incredible” and it’s not a day goes by without me thanking God for this incredible gift. Creating a life is a miracle and I don’t think that God is any less involved in IVF than in natural way. Also we got 2 embryo left, and yes we will be using them. It’s up to God if it will work out or not.

This guy brings up many good points about the efficacies of IVF outside of wedlock and same-sex marriages. I would wholeheartedly agree with those. I would even agree with his point on surrogacy, but for those who are trying,within the confines of marriage and plan to use all their eggs, I still don’t see a moral issue. We can fertilize the egg all we want outside of the womb, but the womb has to accept the egg and that can only happen with God‘s will. just because we implant does not automatically mean pregnancy. I think that that is missed and must be considered

In 27 years as a 'revert' I have never heard a priest speak on these complex issues from the pulpit or in parish educationals. I'm thankful for your teaching Fr Josiah, but I'm afraid the secular Western society has passed us by on most questions of IVF and surrogacy. I pray that the Orthodox message permeates the thickened hearts of some in modern society. We may have to weep for America and comfort those struggling with these questions and keep our eyes on Our Lord.☦️

THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO ITS NEEDED!!!

A fascinating presentation, bringing up aspects I'd not throught about. Very edifying. Thank you.

Gods way is the best. There's way too many problems when we choose science over faith in God.

Thank you father ❤

✝️ ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ ✝ БОГ С НАМИ ПРОТИВ ЗЛА И ИСКУШЕНИЙ ✝🙏⛪👩‍❤️‍👨💍👼🕊

Interestingly the Russian Orthodox Church updated their stance on IVF several years ago saying that the married couple should consult with their priest, but in general IVF is permitted between a husband and wife using their own sperm and eggs as long as only one or two embryos are created and used at a time so there are no excess embryos to discard.

Stepping outside God's procreative design reminds us of Abraham and Sarah, who also did not trust God's promise and design to step outside their own marital union and function to find a different path toward the promise. Clearly, the sexual revolution in the West has been designed to take control of that which belongs to God and His design. Lord have mercy.

I got a job opportunity to be in this industry. Although I desperately need a job to survive, I've been praying about it. My Spirit knew this is a Satanic business. God answered my prayer once again through your video. Thank you Father Josiah.

Thank you for speaking about this issue.

Outstanding! Thank you Father. So many aspects I had never considered regarding IVF. Indeed our way is different from the world’s way.

Not only is this immoral, it works confusion. Some folks we know told us how their daughter had a baby this way (in her late 40s). The embryo was conceived about 10 years before they purchased it, making their new child literally the same age as their real child, even tho' it was born several years later by this surrogate mother. They then met the real father and will allow him to see the child he contributed to in a petri dish (probably for $$). Later they plan to tell this little person about its true origins! How grievous for those who learn they were conceived scientifically and sold to be strangers' children! How many of them may run into their own brother or sister in life, and who knows what might happen then, if they should "fall in love" with their own sibling unwittingly, since there are countless of these embryos being sold! What crazy things humans are doing messing with life like this. They told us of another woman who had twins this way. Her twins' embryos had been "on ice" (they are preserved with some type of gas) for nearly 30 years, therefore making them close to the age of the woman (surrogate mother), and yet were her children! We were blown away to learn of these goings on! It made us sick. We too had many miscarriages, but when we talked to the Dr about fertilization procedures, we couldn't do it. God gave us four healthy sons, and we just had our 14th grandchild in August, and the 15th is on the way. God knows what He is doing; His will is best and always for our good! We can never trust Him too much! ☦Glory to Thee, our God, Glory to Thee!

Thank you Father for addressing this difficult topic that is a source of strong feelings for so many (understandably!)

Thank you for speaking the truth so clearly and beautifully. I morn the babies. I’m Unintentionally childless.

Profound and insightful commentary on the moral ramifications on the IVF. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward (Ps.127:3).

I am currwntly studying to be an embryologist. I want to work in IVF to help people concieve. That is my primary goal. Here in Serbia we have a big problem with infertility and the state invested a lot into IVF in an attempt to solve this problem. I have had a big dilemma about my future work because of the issues you have mentioned Father. I have spoken to my own priest about it in passing but intend to have deeper conversations about it. I do not wish to do things against God's will, and I do believe it is His will for me to at least study this subject. I hope in time to understand His plan for me.

It is sad how the world would like nothing to do with our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ...it is my hope in Christ that they wake up before the end.

Well sorry, but I don’t understand why a married Orthodox couple wouldn’t consider this option with careful thought and consideration. God has endowed doctors with knowledge, and if this knowledge is used responsibly (i.e., not to assist 'homosexual couples' or single parents), then why not? Why not help loving, caring, Orthodox people have children? Doesn’t God work in every conception? If He didn’t intend for it to happen, He wouldn’t allow it. If God's providence has allowed me to face illness for my humility and salvation, does that mean seeking a cure is against God's will? Or should I simply accept my illness and leave it in God's hands? Fertility issues can also be viewed as a kind of illness. If that was you would you really choose not to explore all help that you can get (again, with great care, prayer, consideration, and making sure no conceived babies die in the process), and simply let your life pass without children?

I wouldn’t be here without IVF. I am extremely grateful. God Bless you all 🙏🏼

Father, I don't understand your position regarding an across the board denial of IVF ( I am neither pro nor con). However, if a husband and wife (not a homosexual couple, or single parent) can only have children by way of IVF, how is this wrong? How is there an absence of love solely because conception was not the product of intercourse? Does not God's continuing gift to humanity to endow us with the knowledge to uplift our station in life through medicine?

I m a devout Orthodox Christian, a proud husband, but unfortunately a victim of stress and pollution and therefore I have issues reproducing via natural means. I feel IVF is a miracle coming from God. If God wouldn t want humanity to achieve this point, then this point wouldn t have been achieve. If me and my wife won't be able to concieve naturally, then we ll so IVF in a heartbeat. If God wants us to have a child, then IVF will be successful

Much needed commentary.

14:00 another person affected by this process is the child itself which you lightly spoke on. The child cannot be expected to grow up in a traditional household and upbringing without a father and a mother. The child is also likely subject to bullying in a crucial time in their lives when making lasting friendships is important for development. What will happen when they are of age to have their own children? Will the cycle repeat?

Deleting undesirable babies is just wrong!😢

I thank you father !!!!!

One of my favorite Mexican married couple to talk with are two people who have been life long infertile. I talked with Arturo who told me, “We tried many times to have children, but for whatever reason God decided it wasn’t for us.” I love coming over to their house to visit, outside of being enjoyable people to visit, is to serve as a reminder the primary purpose of marriage is preserving chastity. Two very devout Roman Catholics that I pray will become Orthodox Christians someday. Some health advice, if you’re having trouble conceiving. There is a nine out of ten chance the wife has a vitamin D deficiency. Get more sunlight, eat more vitamin D rich foods, or take supplements.

thank you for explaining the church's view on this complex issue!

Thank you father

Thank you for this video, Father!

There is nothing in the Canons nor our Creed that negates the medical miracles of IVF much as it doesn’t prohibit organ transplants either. This is your human interpretation.

Dear father, thank you for imparting your wisdom's. A degenerate society we live.

I respectfully disagree with a lot of the points in this reflection. Having a beautiful 5 year old from IVF transfer as well as currently 13 weeks pregnant with my remaining frozen embryo, I believe these are two wonderful miracles which definitely were Gods will to be here today. God is not removed from giving life in conception in any way. He is the Giver of Life, whether that’s naturally or with fertility treatment or assistance. My husband would not have had the blessing to be a father if it were not for this process. It was Gods will because otherwise it would not have happened. We are truly blessed to have found IVF.

This is a great reflection! Before going though also this try to find out what Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia said about IVF. These saints have helped many parents conceive: St. Nektarios and St. Simeon (Hilandar monastery - Mt. Athos), with certain prayers, oil and grape, fasting and confession - many parents who could not conceive even with all the scince ended up conceiving children. The whole process helps them come closer to God and their child grows in faith as well.

Thank you! And I say this in love. Republicans stance on this topic is costing them votes. It impacted the last election, and it may very well decide this one. I think it's very possible this may be comment on politics in general. Personally, I don't care. These acts are an abomination. You follow God, or you follow the world.

If your priest is not Fr Josiah then consult your parish priest if you're considering IVF. Despite my scepticism, our priest gave us a blessing to do IVF and we are blessed to have started a family in this way. This matter is not determined by this priests opinion.

I appreciate the points raised that there are ethical concerns and the potential for abuse which should be carefully considered. However, the line of reasoning that infertility treatment automatically removes god from the equation gives me pause. If we accept the premise that to do anything more than pray for a divine miracle is taking things out of god's hands, doesn't it then follow that virtually all medical treatment would be the same? For instance, someone with an infection who takes medication rather than letting it run its course and trusting in god must be no different? I would reject this argument, and say, like many have, that the discovery of medicines like penicillin were gifts god had a hand in, and reasons to be thankful. So I pose this question: assuming safeguards were enacted to deal with the ethical concerns raised, no "spare" embryos, only performed on a married husband and wife, etc. Does a theological issue still present?

What a brave new world.

This ongoing manipulation of human Life is all about lack of respect of the will of God and lack of Faith. Don't manipulate anymore! Good that we celebrate natural conception !❤

Science should service the dignity and God-given holiness of human life and person, and I believe that this is the point here. So yes, we don’t use unbiblical practices.However, there is a general tendency towards completely dismissing science, aka I don’t trust medicine only god, which is in fact a manifestation of ones egotism,not faith. A wise spiritual father in Greece used to say: it is blasphemy to have a painkiller in my table and ask god to directly cure my headache.

With Joachim and Anna they had Little Mary when Anna was 70 years old St.Mary eas a miracle baby herself.

This video brings up many thoughts and considerations, namely, for me, it leads to the following question: To what extent should the same standards and applications extend to the use of western advanced medicine when consideting end of-life care? To what extent do we "go over and above" in an effort to prolong our own lives, clashing with that of the Lord's will in our lives. Might it also be detrimental to NOT take those adcanced medical steps, especially if, for instance there are child dependents? No easy answers when balancing our own individual Will, with that of God's. Each individual circumstance and case brings with it it's own unique individual considerations; painting with a "broad brush" can lead to a disfigured mess, and often does (not saying that Father has done that here; but that we should be cautious and to the extent reasonably possible, refrain from doing so ourselves)

So what's to be said of us who were had via IVF. I don't know for sure but I am relatively certain that if not for the technology I would not exist. Because I might be the result of God's hand being forced. May my existence be considered unethical. Should I even be considering operating under the vision that I should not exist. I was happened with somewhat outside the confines of marriage. According to what's being inside above. If anyone's curious about the specific IVF. I'm pretty sure I was a needle I was injected into the egg that was still inside the womb.

God gave us our mind to create and support life, in the love and wisdom of God's will. Science originates from "scientia", latin for "knowledge". When science is appropriated with the love of Christ, and God's law, science can reaffirm the sanctity of life, outside of the bond of physical union. Thus, the Mystery of Conception is blessed to those married couples: the holy family- mother and father, who otherwise may not experience the blessings of parenthood. However, it must be flesh of the mother and father- no one else. Some people are rendered barren, and we must accept such infertility as God's will. These are the times when husband and wife must adopt the spirit of Christian Charity, and adopt an orphan as their own child: such is the will of God. True science is separate from the perversions of the depraved "sexual revolution", and those questions posed in this post may be answered as such- Be aware of Satan's trappings. If Satan can infiltrate certain religious authorities, as seen in child abuse, and the normalization of the homosexual abomination in the fractured church, then Satan can easily infiltrate science, and misrepresent perversion as progression.

So many people in the comments clearly didn’t WATCH the video…..

Great video! IVF is horrific.

Father I'd like some clarification. Of course conception is a gift and beautiful, and an act of love as you say halfway through. Yet simultaneously do we not each confess in paraklesis "in sin my mother bore me" and that the conception of Mary and Christ were the only sinless conceptions?

Forgive me Father but I have been Orthodox my whole life and various Orthodox priests have advised that there is nothing documented in Orthodox doctrine to indicate that IVF is a sin unless you do not implant all eggs. You cannot destroy any of the eggs. It's of course an economia. Genuinely, could you please provide information on where it is indicated to be a sin? Forgive me, I'm not intending to be argumentative, just confused by the discrepency in information.

Im Not sure yet. I wanted a child so much. Because I wanted meaning in my life. Not becoming a mother broke my heart. Fear my future. Not being able to love or be loved unconditionally. Maybe growing older alone. I do not see the problem for husband & wife trying IVF. But surrogacy its not correct. Or gay couples. I believe God allows life to occur in a biblical fashion family. Maybe not so much with homosexuality. But you had children priest, so you CANT speak About being childless. You don’t know what you would’ve done if you wanted a child with all your heart. I did two rounds of IVF You don’t know what you would’ve done if you wanted a child with all your heart. I did two rounds of IVF I could not implant for health reasons. It broke my heart and brought me to God. I am still adjusting to the thought of living childless life.

I really enjoy how thorough you go into the explanations of these issues. I do have a question unrelated to the ivf. I’m in my early 20s and I see how America is turning to a place I may not want to raise a family in. What are the moral implications of jumping ship so to speak? That is moving to a different country. One the one hand it seems reasonable the other like I am abandoning my home when I could be trying to change it. Thank you for any guidance father and God bless you.

Equating IVF and abortion is appropriate. The doctors who do the IVF are artificially fertilizing _multiple_ eggs. It's setting into motion the development of multiple embryo, only a handful of which will survive. On top of that, IVF also includes freezing fertilized eggs, until such time as the client is able to conceive a child from IVF and is finished with IVF process. But what to do with the frozen fertilized? Life begins at conception. So, if you are throwing out these fertilized eggs, this is functionally the same thing as abortion (euphemistically: terminating a pregnancy). That is the connection. It is morally perilous at best.

You are aware that IVF is not always successful and in the end if a pregnancy appears after a long and painful protocol and is still by the grace of God.

I did not think about the soldier thing. Creepy

Haven't watched the video but yes IVF is immoral. For one, forming a human being in a petri dish does not sit right with me, and two, donating sperm/eggs is wrong.

I asked my Spiritual Father 20 years ago about IVF. He said no! I agreed and made a decision. My best friend single mother made a decision to have a child from the donor. Her son was born with severe disability. She is an Orthodox Christian but unfortunately she decided to listen to her desire more then God.

Nope, not even a little ethical

The vast majority of IVF cases are married couples who cannot conceive. Using our knowledge and God-created minds to remedy this should be celebrated. That goes for any modern medicine that has both extended lifetimes and given people second chances at life.

The bottom line is that so many people commenting on this video have no idea about the pain involved with infertility, yet they’re comfortably able to pass judgement on a fellow Christian’s personal decisions. It’s shameful. Just what the evil one would want I’d expect.

The only thing I want to say is if you discard a human life, it is a murder. So is a tremendous thing. A Christian person shoulnt do a horrible thing like that. We cannot murder!! Jesus was murdered! we cannot kill a Human person! Thats horrible.

The fertility industry is very lucrative, so I don’t trust any politician to take a moral stance for or against it. It’s money. That’s what they see.

So bottom line, putting aside all the misuse cases/scenarios (of which there are many) can an Orthodox Christian couple who are having trouble conceiving receive this assistance? Done as prayerfully as possible, one embryo at a time? How do you know that this ability is not a gift from God, all he had to do is make IVF not work (because of the creative nature of the act, only he has the first and last word on it). I would take caution in proporting to completely understand God's mind on this.

dark times ahead for Christians in the US

From my observation, American Orthodox are much more judgmental than Russian Orthodox regarding IVF. Not saying it is right or wrong, just an observation.

Am I any less of a real human? Father, I have been struggling terribly with accepting the fact I was born IVF. I get overtly jealous from time to time of my friends who had a stable normal upbringing.

Excellent information but as always, it’s best to work with your own priest and bishop in these decisions

No. IVF is not OK. Natural between primary married couple or nothing.

IVF by its technical nature is certainly not licit from either an Orthodox or Roman Catholic perspective

This one's hard. If you marry young, you're stupid. If you dont marry young, you're risking no children (tick tock, to quote my aunt). If you dont wait for children, youre irresponsible. If you do wait, you're selfish and immature. If you choose not to have children, naturally or otherwise, youre selfish. If you adopt, you're stealing someone's child. If you foster, youre just in it for the paycheck. What do all these scenarios have in common? Women making their own decisions. Its a woman's right to follow Jesus or not. I will never support politicizing this choice. But just remember, Jesus DID love women, in all our mistakes and cycles and full/empty wombs. So I guess Ill just be sad in this life and follow him. Because what else can I even do besides love Him, and mourn forever.

I love your videos Fr., but I will take this as a personal opinion and not the Church’s official statement. Again, with much respect to you, I disagree with the approach. God said to Adam and Eve go procreate and dominate the earth. Science is a blessing from God, if two sincere loving Christian parents, mother and father, decide to rely on science, which is a blessing from God, to fulfill his commandment of procreation, is that immoral? Also, do you stop taking medication because your illness could be the will of God? Also, let’s be very careful not to be God’s spokespeople for his will, apart from His communicated will, please let’s not interpret based on our own understanding. Also, I cannot force a life on God, IVF can simply fail if this is not “God’s will”. There’s more to this than our personal opinions, also, of the child grew up to be a faithful Orthodox Christian, is that not the will of God???

The sinful method of collecting the necessary …”contribution” from the husband is something I don’t see being addressed enough.

Brave New World is the guidebook for our modern dystopia. Hedonism is espoused and forming families is looked down upon.

This ones hard for me It's hard for me to say it's wrong But The church is much older then i

Even if we were to completely stop the idf today, what do we do with what they have in the freezers right now? I don’t know a good answer.

I think use to help a married couple conceive is alright. As long as they are married ( man to a woman) and plan to use all the embryos created.

Excellent info. I have always wondered if children conceived through IVF have a soul? I haven't heard this issue addressed.

This ones hard for me It's hard for me to say it's wrong But The church is much older then iw

Hi Father, I have a question. When you spoke about conception being a 'miracle', I wondered what it means if God allows us to create these miracles? In a sense, he allows us the power to perform these miracles. My first question is 'what does it mean that God allows us to perform these miracles?' The most obvious response to this idea is that miracles and sin are separate concepts. Something normally miraculous performed under the wrong context can qualitatively change the thing. For example, if we replace the word 'miracle' with 'holy' then sex is an obvious example of this reasoning. Sex is holy and sacred if performed under the right set of internal and external circumstances, but if performed outside these bounds is sinful and unholy. However, the difference between 'holy' and 'miracle' is found in the definition of what a miracle is. A miracle is an event that (if a real miracle, and not a false miracle) is good, it is from God. Therefore, even in the case of IVF, the life that comes forth and blooms from it is still a miracle. It is still good. My second question; 'does this mean that IVF is sinful for the parent but God mercifully spares the new life the extra burden of the parent's sin?' My third question comes from my simultaneous interests in my religion (I'm a non-denominational Christian, considering Orthodoxy) and my career in Technology. At what point is the technology I use (with my intent, knowledge and free will) an extension of myself morally. For example, if IVF became advanced enough to be portable and done at home (let's say between a man and a woman), and after conception the woman gestated otherwise normally, would there be openness to the technology? This seems like an important question because I have no doubt until it's simply a matter of time before this can be done. I would like to add a few final points to contextualise the question. 1) if I were to commit a crime with a shovel, that shovel would be considered an extension of me in that crime. 2) if I stole people's property online without physically taking anything, my actions would be considered the key to judging the end result. It would not matter that there were a sequence of technological events in between my physical actions and the crime. Therefore my question is, why is technology not measured similarly here? I would also like to add that the above above argument for technology does not apply to contraception because the act of deciding on the contraception is the key event, it does not matter what sort of contraceptive technology (or technique) then follows. This is actually consistent with the reasoning about technology in the context of a crime. So restating my third question again, why is IVF seemingly treated inconsistently? Thank you father

But what if you lost 2 but with IVF you get what you lost? 2 for 2?

All throughout scripture it is the Lord who opens and closes wombs. He determines the times and places of our coming to existence. I think we have to be very careful how we interact with advanced reproductive services.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I tried to create each life in my womb but like any natural fertilisation , some babies did not survive in my womb. I used every single embryo created as I said in my post. ❤

i can't believe this is possible. too much.

I have embryos. And couldn’t get pregnant because I got a bad injury. How should I address this? Embryos are frozen. And don’t know how to proceed to “ destroy “ them. I dont believe in abortion. Can you provide biblical examples of infertile women??? How do we have handle this issue?? THE BIBLICAL EXAMPLES ONLY SAY WOMEN ARE BLESSED WITH FERTILITY FOR WOMEN. NEVER REALLY GIVE EXAMPLES OF INFERTILITY????

A related question which is one for the future but will likely be technologically possible: artificial wombs? How would the Church respond to fertility-impaired married couples utilizing such a technology? If procreation were accomplished without destruction of embryos and some of the more obviously immoral elements associated with IVF like sperm/egg donation, what is our objection? The thorough medicalization of procreation? And if that would be the objection, what other forms of extreme medicalization do we reject and why? In many ways that we probably fail to realize, we have already adopted aggressive bio-technical augmentation of our bodies.

Anything that has children die is not moral.

share with anyone that you want to give an clear argument to

Father Josiah - I have appreciated many of your videos and they have strengthened my faith. I understand some of your points in this video particularly how IVF can be a slippery slope. Any technology can be weaponized and be used in sinful ways. And I agree It is not the ideal form of conception. But to equate abortion with IVF is shortsighted and wrong. I also think you are wrong saying that IVF can’t be a product of marital love between a mother and father. Infertility is a very traumatic experience for a couple even a loving Orthodox couple. Is it not possibly to consider IVF a blessing in certain situations?

Damn so my family line dies with me I guess....my wife can't get pregnant naturally

Im curious what the Orthodox Position on Adoption is? Also is modern medicine always seen as an evil?

Has anyone considered the husband and wife's seed in the mother's womb? It's hard to conceive and avoid miscarriage, IVF can assist in that. And sometimes on special cases where the mother cannot carry a baby with great caution collaborating with a surrogate to carry the husband and wife's baby. In cases where the woman has had her eggs frozen before cancer treatment I think a surrogate womb is worth considering with the aid of a qualified psychologist to choose the right surrogate. Then there's the unused embryos, for me, adoption only, no murder. But non viable embryos which is essentially a miscarriage frozen in time is hard. I would donate them like a dead babies body if research would help prevent or lessen the chances of that happening to someone else, but that's a hard consideration. Non viable embryos are each a funeral.