Today, it isn’t strange to hear a couple who had a child through in vitro fertilization. For everyday couples, the method has been a chosen one after struggling to conceive. But it’s not just them who have relied on the method to become parents – celebrities such as Celine Dion, Brooke Shields, Courtney Cox, Emma Thompson and Marcia Cross, just to name a few, have turned to IVF.
Louise Brown, born in England on July 25, 1978, is the first to be born after conception through IVF. But ever since that day, this method of conception has been scrutinized for various reasons. That said, here’s a look at the pros and cons of in vitro fertilization:
Pros of In Vitro Fertilization
1. It helps infertile couples.
Couples who want a child, but don’t want to turn to adoption just yet can look to IVF to help them conceive. This is the most given reason in favor of the procedure. Prior to IVF, doctors would have to sit down with couples after having tried various efforts to conceive and tell them it’s the end of the line. But with IVF, previously infertile couples have another shot at becoming parents.
2. It can help prevent birth defects.
It’s tough for any parent to have a child born with any defect. This is why those in favor of IVF see it as a way of developing healthy children by being able to study fertilization and early embryonic development outside the womb. Those in agreement with IVF also stated that the information gained from IVF would advance medicine, and in particular, with prenatal care.
Cons of In Vitro Fertilization
1. It destroys social structures.
People who disagreed with the procedure have expressed that it might bring an end to the nuclear family. It’s a scene all too familiar for those who have read A Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley where laboratory breeding would take the place of marriage.
Conservatives have fears that the continued success of the procedure would create different kinds of non-traditional families. Some women have feared that with such technology, the pressure on them to bring children into the world would be too high. Others have voiced fears over how children born through IVF would be treated by others – i.e. they might be socially ostracized.
2. It is viewed as unnatural and wrong.
Other opponents of IVF didn’t base their misgivings on a particular outcome, but mainly that they view it as wrong. For them, it’s unnatural for a child to be created outside the womb. Others viewed it as “taking the Lord’s work into their own hands.”
But this and other negative views have subsided in recent years because they’ve seen children conceived this way grow into happy and healthy beings.
3. It increases the chances of multiple births.
Some couples only have enough resources for one child, and they find trouble facing them ahead when it is confirmed that they will be having more than one child. While having more children would be considered a blessing for some, others just couldn’t afford the arrival of two or more kids at once.