During the 2024 presidential campaign, in vitro fertilization (IVF) leapt onto the national stage when President Donald Trump pledged to make IVF freely available by requiring the government or insurance to cover all costs.[^1] Suddenly, millions of Americans began asking themselves what IVF actually entails, and whether it should be universally accessible, especially to couples enduring the profound heartbreak of infertility. This is not a completely new conversation. On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown was born in Oldham, UK, marking the culmination of decades of reproductive experiments in both animals and humans.[^2] Her birth triggered a rapid refinement of the technology, leading to the highly successful IVF industry we see today.
In recent decades, conservative Anabaptists have increasingly had to navigate questions surrounding IVF. Can this technology be used ethically? Given the skyrocketing costs of adoption—which can run between $40,000-$60,000 through a private agency—should infertile couples turn to IVF to fulfill their longing for a child, especially since a single IVF cycle costs significantly less (around $20,000)? This paper explores the mechanics of IVF and examines the ethical dilemmas it presents. By looking at these challenges through the lens of Scripture, we can begin to frame a faithful Christian response, recognizing that not everyone will come to the same conclusions.
It is vital to establish at the outset that every human being is created in the image of God. If you were conceived using IVF, you bear God’s image as fully as any other human being, and you are deeply loved and valued by Him. If you have used IVF to conceive a child, this paper is not a statement of condemnation. Instead, it is an invitation to consider together what God’s Word says about children, procreation, and the sacred marriage bond, and how those truths shape our approach to modern reproductive technology.
Assisted Reproductive Technologies and IVF Defined
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IVF is the most common and widely debated form of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)—a category that also includes procedures like intrauterine insemination (IUI) and surrogacy. Reproductive specialists typically recommend IVF to couples when less invasive fertility treatments have failed.
The medical process of IVF involves several highly controlled stages:
- Ovarian Suppression and Stimulation: Doctors initially prescribe hormones to regulate the woman’s cycle and prevent ovarian cysts. In a natural monthly cycle, a group of eggs begins to mature, but usually only one reaches full maturity for ovulation while the rest dissolve. In IVF, doctors inject hormones to stimulate the entire group of eggs to mature simultaneously, monitoring progress via blood tests and ultrasounds.
- Egg Retrieval: When the eggs are ready, the woman receives a “trigger shot” to finalize maturation. Using ultrasound guidance, a physician inserts a thin needle through the vagina into the ovaries to retrieve the eggs via a gentle suction device. The collected eggs are then placed in a specialized incubator.
- Sperm Collection and Preparation: The male partner provides a semen sample using masturbation, which is incubated and “washed” in the laboratory to separate the healthiest, most active sperm from weak or dead cells.
- Fertilization: The embryologist introduces the sperm to the eggs, frequently using a technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. This step has an approximate 70% success rate.
- Embryo Development and Transfer: The resulting embryos are monitored closely for five to six days, with about half progressing to the blastocyst stage (an early multi-celled stage of development).
At this point, doctors can transfer one or more fresh embryos directly into the woman’s uterus, hoping they will implant into the endometrial lining and establish a successful pregnancy. Alternatively, the embryos can be frozen (cryopreserved) for future use. If frozen embryos are used later, the woman undergoes two to three weeks of hormone pills and a week of injections to prepare her uterine lining, monitored closely by blood draws and ultrasounds. In both scenarios, the embryos are guided into the uterus using a syringe attached to a thin catheter. If an embryo successfully implants, pregnancy begins.
The Ethical Dilemmas of IVF
When a couple chooses IVF, a child is no longer conceived through the intimate sexual union—the biblical “one flesh” bond—of husband and wife. Instead, the process introduces third parties into the creation of life. Some couples utilize donor sperm or eggs. The fertility specialist becomes intimately involved in the mechanics of conception. The female body is forced into a strict pharmaceutical schedule to produce an unnatural number of eggs, masturbation is required to collect sperm, and conception occurs in a laboratory dish rather than the womb.
Furthermore, this technological approach can subtly shift our mindset, transforming children from gifts of a sovereign God into products that parents feel they want and deserve. This production mindset introduces several severe ethical challenges:
- Excess Embryos: Because the goal is maximum efficiency, clinics routinely fertilize more eggs than will be transferred. This creates “extra” human embryos that are either left frozen indefinitely, donated to medical research, or simply discarded.
- Genetic Selection: As genetic testing advances, embryos are increasingly screened and selected based on sex, the absence of disabilities, or other preferred traits.
- Cryopreservation Risks: The freezing and thawing process itself is hazardous to early human life, resulting in the loss and death of roughly 20% of frozen embryos.
- Selective Reduction: In pursuit of higher success rates, doctors sometimes transfer multiple embryos into the uterus. If too many implant successfully, posing a risk to the pregnancy, parents are often advised to undergo “selective reduction”—which is fundamentally the abortion of the less desirable or weaker embryos.
A Scriptural View of Children, Child-bearing, Marriage, and Infertility
To evaluate these practices, we must ground our thinking in the core principles of Scripture. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” Each human being possesses inherent worth as an image bearer of the Almighty God, regardless of their abilities, gender, maturity, or financial resources. Each embryo, at the earliest form of human life, carries worth because he or she is a human made in the image of God.
From the very beginning, God has fiercely protected human life. Cain was punished for murdering Abel (Gen. 4:9-15). The sixth commandment explicitly declares, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exo. 20:13). God commanded the Israelites to completely destroy all the Canaanite peoples because they sacrificed their children to false gods (Deut. 8:9-10). He loves and values the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn.
God established marriage to be an exclusive, lifelong covenant between one man and one woman (Gen. 2:22-24, Matt. 19:4-6). The Seventh and Tenth Commandments protect this boundary by forbidding adultery and covetousness, a standard of absolute purity reiterated throughout the New Testament (Heb. 13:4). God’s design for the family operates within these holy parameters. Scripture clearly frames children as a blessing, not a right: “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psa. 127:3). Parents are called to nurture and admonish their children in the Lord (Eph. 6:4), caring for them as precious trusts.
Historically, humanity had no control over the opening or closing of the womb; procreation was understood to rest entirely in God’s hands. When Isaac and Rebekah faced the deep pain of infertility, Isaac prayed fervently for his wife for twenty years before God granted them twins (Gen. 25). We should approach procreation and the gift of children with humility, recognizing God’s sovereignty over this area of our lives. Many modern technologies like IVF, aided by humanistic theologies, make it possible to “play God” in sacred areas where before human ingenuity had not dared to tread.
A Scriptural Response to IVF
Because every human embryo is a unique, sacred life bearing the image of God, it cannot ethically be treated as disposable medical waste or subjected to murderous research. If an embryo is intentionally discarded, that act is the taking of a human life. Even if a couple attempts to navigate IVF by only fertilizing the exact number of eggs they intend to immediately implant, the high mortality rate associated with freezing and the artificial manipulation of these fragile lives remain deeply concerning. A truly righteous society would establish laws protecting human life at these earliest stages.
Furthermore, because children are gifts from a sovereign God and marriage is a sacred bond between one man and one woman for life, human reproduction should occur within the marital union through the natural unity of spouses. This principle rules out donor sperm, donor eggs, and surrogacy, which sever the biological and spiritual connection between husband, wife, and child. Likewise, it excludes IVF, which moves fertilization outside the marital act and into a laboratory.
As followers of Christ, we accept our children as gifts from Him to be nurtured and trained up in His ways. We reject the secular, humanistic view of children as commodities to be manufactured at will or customized for convenience. They are not nuisances to be dismissed to the nursery or Sunday school simply to prevent distraction during the sermon. God is the One who sovereignly determines their sex, their hair color, and their giftings.
This conclusion is not reached lightly or without a deep awareness of the heartbreak involved, but is one that is rooted in Scripture and in God’s character. If you have utilized IVF in the past under the advice of a medical professional, please know that you are not being judged here. If you were conceived via IVF, you are a beautifully made image-bearer of God. However, we as God’s people must periodically pause to evaluate rapidly changing technologies through the timeless lens of Scripture.
Infertility is a heavy, deeply painful grief, and the Christian community must walk alongside suffering couples with profound empathy and support. It is entirely appropriate to pursue ethical medical advancements that seek to heal and restore the body’s natural reproductive systems—such as surgeries to clear obstructions or medications to correct hormonal imbalances. These treatments respect the natural order God established at creation, leaving the ultimate outcome of our deep longings in the hands of our loving Heavenly Father.
Sources
1) Braverman B. “The Cost of Adoption – and Strategies to Pay for It,” Published on https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/family-finance/articles/what-adoption-costs-and-strategies-to-pay-for-it last updated on 8/11/2022, accessed on 7/15/2026.
2) Fishel S. “First in vitro fertilization baby—this is how it happened,” Fertility and Sterility, 2018; 110, 5-11.
3) “IVF (In Vitro Fertilization),” Published on https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22457-ivf last updated on 3/2/2022; accessed on 6/25/2026
4) Lenow E, Thacker J. “Infertility and the Longing for Children: Considering the Ethical Implications of Assisted Reproductive Technologies.” The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. 4/2/2025.
5) Matza M. “Trump says insurance or government should pay for IVF,” Published on https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyg1rlnywyo on 8/29/2024; accessed on 6/30/2026