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The Other Half of the Debate - Calling the Churches to Confront the Experience of Persons Conceived through Reproductive Technology

July 16, 2011

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Video Recording

In recent decades churches have wrestled with multiple ethical questions surrounding reproductive technologies. Yet church discussions about such technologies have tended to remain oriented towards compassion towards infertile couples, with little acknowledgement that the children conceived through these methods grow up and might have their own point of view. Additionally, some churches are engaged in sometimes fierce debates over the rights of same-sex couples to marry, openly parent, and/or to use reproductive technologies to form their families.Amid these debates a crucial element has been missing: the voices of persons conceived through reproductive technologies. A recent study of 485 adults (ages 18-45) who were conceived through sperm donation reveals that a majority of them were raised in Protestant or Catholic faith traditions and identify with those traditions today. The respondents were recruited from a web-based panel of more than one million American households. The study also included comparison groups of persons who were adopted as infants and persons raised by their biological parents. The study suggests that donor conceived persons are in the pews and many of them are hurting. The co-investigators found that, compared to those raised by their biological parents, donor conceived parents are more confused about who is a member of their family and feel more isolated from their families of origin when they grow up. About two-thirds agree, “My sperm donor is half of who I am.” About half are troubled by the role of money in their conception. Two-thirds believe that donor conceived persons have the right to know the identity of their sperm donor, a right they currently do not have in U.S. law. The study also found that donor conceived persons are more likely to have negative outcomes on substance abuse, delinquency, and depression. In the paper the authors challenge the churches to confront the experience of persons conceived through reproductive technologies as they grapple with the ethical and social implications of these technologies on congregations and society.

Keywords:
assisted preproductivce technology, pastoral implications of ART, donor gametes