President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order protecting and expanding access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The Order
The order, titled “Expanding Access to In Vitro Fertilization,” points out that as many as one in seven couples are unable to conceive children.
The order states:
“My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children,” the order adds.
It claims IVF “offers hope to men and women experiencing fertility challenges” but is cost prohibitive.
One round of IVF costs anywhere from $12,000 to $30,0000, with an average cost of $61,000 to either achieve a live birth or determine the procedures are unlikely to succeed. In 2022, the IVF industry was valued at $35 billion.
The order directs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to “submit to the President a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment” within 90 days.
Analysis of the Order
Everyone should have great compassion for couples experiencing the pains of infertility. Children are incredibly valuable, and the president’s order is correct to recognize that fact.
This perspective is greatly needed in our society, which increasingly devalues family formation and childbearing. Tragically, according to Pew Research, only 57% of unmarried, childless young men, and 45% of unmarried, childless young women, say they want to have kids in the future.
So, the order’s recognition of the value of children is significant. And young couples who deeply desire children should be respected and commended.
But, crucially, the order does not define what it means by “couples” who are “unable to conceive children.” Same-sex couples could be included in this definition, since they are unable to conceive children as a result of being in inherently sterile relationships.
For same-sex couples who use IVF to create children in a lab, we should remember that any child created is not their child; children are only conceived through sperm provided by one man and an egg provided by one woman. In truth, any children created by same-sex couples through IVF is the child of the man and woman whose gametes conceived the child.
When used by same-sex couples, IVF deprives children of their rightful mother or father.
Emotions alone do not justify every means of procuring a child. With that in mind, let’s examine some of the other moral and ethical problems associated with IVF
Ethical Problems with IVF
IVF and the Birth Rate
While some may assert that IVF could solve our nation’s falling birth rate crisis, there is also a risk young men and women will see IVF as an alternative to getting married young, and use it as an excuse to delay family formation. It’s no coincidence that IVF use has exploded as the average age of first marriage – 30 for men and 28 for women – has risen to a record high.
Indeed, the largest cohort of women using assisted reproductive technologies were those between 35 and 40 years old.
So, to the extent IVF is seen as an acceptable alternative to early family formation and used as a “back up option” for young men and women pursuing careers, education, and material accumulation at the expense of marriage and childbearing, IVF does more harm than good.
The Conjugal Union
Christians also should intelligently reflect upon God’s original design for procreation. By nature, procreation is intrinsically tied to the marital act. Indeed, God has designed sex and procreation to go together.
When procreation is intentionally untethered from sex – through IVF, surrogacy, contraception, abortion, or sterilization – ethical issues quickly arise.
In his Wednesday, February 19, 2025, episode of “The Briefing,” Southern Seminary President Al Mohler emphasized this point:
IVF and the Taking of Life
Many think of IVF as a “baby making” process. In reality, far more babies die because of IVF than are born.
According to one study, close to one million embryos died because of IVF in 2019 compared to just over 600,000 abortions in the same year.
Yes, this means that more babies die because of IVF every year than abortion.
Them Before Us – a child’s rights organization founded by Katy Faust – issued a statement on the president’s executive order pointing out some of the ethical problems with IVF and how it is usually practiced:
Only around 2.3% of lab-created babies will be born alive.
The vast majority will be genetically screened, sex-selected, and graded out of existence.
“Surplus” embryos are discarded as medical waste, “donated” to research (that is, destroyed), or forgotten in freezers.
Many of the lucky few who survive this eugenic gauntlet will lose their right to be known and loved by their mother and/or father via third-party “donor conception.”
In this way, IVF results in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of children annually, and IVF providers frequently employ eugenic practices, valuing children on attributes like their sex, genetic abnormalities, or hair, eye and skin color.
Conclusion
All children – no matter the circumstances of their conception – are created in the image and likeness of God and therefore have intrinsic value and worth. This is true for all children conceived through IVF.
At Focus on the Family, we emphasize that couples struggling with infertility should be treated with compassion and support; their desire to have children is good and worthy of praise.
Additionally, we affirm that husbands, wives and doctors can take steps to lessen concerns associated with IVF if used only by a married man and woman with no third-party involvement (no donor sperm, donor eggs or surrogacy), and if the process creates only the number of embryos that can be safely implanted in the mother’s uterus at the time they’re produced (none are frozen for future IVF cycles).
Nonetheless, there are substantial ethical and moral problems with how the IVF industry normally operates. Christians considering IVF must carefully think through these myriad ethical issues.
If you’d like to discuss this issue with us further, you can get in touch with us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
To learn more about how assisted reproductive technologies, you can view child rights advocate Katy Faust’s Lighthouse Voices presentation, “The Rights of Children.”
Related articles and resources:
IVF: Moral and Ethical Consideration
Perspectives on Surrogate Motherhood
Christians Must Consider the Moral and Ethical Hazards of IVF
Concerns Over Alabama Bill Providing Immunity for IVF Providers
‘Our Babies Have Barcodes.’ The Moral Problems With IVF and Surrogacy.
We Need to Talk About Assisted Reproduction
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