Editor’s note: This third and final article of our fertility series explores some of the current cases arising from common fertility practices and the moral dilemmas posed by them.

Read part one and part two of the series.

ORLANDO | While the definition of “when life begins” continues to evolve for pro-choice supporters to try and validate abortion, the Catholic Church has never faltered on its understanding that life begins at conception.

One of the greatest challenges the Church faces is the lack of understanding of what happens to frozen eggs and embryos intended for in vitro fertilization, and the moral consequences for all, especially practicing Catholics. With insurance companies increasingly covering cryopreservation or freezing of eggs and embryos for in vitro fertilization, the moral questions loom large – from reproductive rights to disposal and loss.

Yet a Pew Research study found 83% of Catholics believe IVF should be sanctioned by the Church. More than 100,000 babies were born through IVF in 2024, according to The National Infertility and Family Building Association.

Father Matthew Hawkins of Annunciation Parish in Altamonte Springs said, “In addition to all of the harmful effects of acting against the Church’s teachings,” he reminds those trying to conceive “that children are a gift, and as a gift, they cannot be deserved, designed, or demanded. Our understanding of a child can be more akin to property than a person once we have grasped and taken them for ourselves rather than received them from the hand of God. There is also a risk of seeing one’s spouse as a donor and sexual relations as a means to some other end which could have deleterious effects on future intimacy.”

In trying to explain the problems incurred he goes on to say, “Truth is symphonic: every teaching is like an instrument playing in a single, harmonious composition from the mind of God. Attempt to remove or change the tune of any one of those instruments and the piece becomes discordant. Human laws cannot possibly take into account every contingency. If they are not derived from Divine Law, then inevitably they introduce noise which disrupts the good order of society.”

And the noise is escalating so much, it is no longer easy to ignore.

A July 2025 Science Direct article noted, “Ten million and up to 13 million or more infants have been born from ART (assisted reproductive technology) in the 40 years since the first ART-conceived infant was born in 1978.” That infant, Louise Brown, was born July 25, 1978, and the debate over the morality and conscience of the process by which she was conceived is ongoing.

As mentioned in earlier articles, the Church’s primary concern with IVF is the outcome of human babies in the embryonic stage. In 2018, more than 4,000 eggs and embryos were lost in a Cleveland fertility clinic when tank temperatures failed.

The same day, Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco had a failure in its tanks ultimately resulting in a $14 million dollar lawsuit won by five people who lost eggs and embryos.

A July 28, 2026, article in The Harvard Gazette indicated more than 500 legal cases involving frozen embryos have been filed in state courts. Most revolve around divorced parents, separation and such unexpected scenarios.

Then there is the question of what to do with abandoned eggs and embryos in clinics where parents have stopped paying for them to be stored or which are simply “no longer needed”. Although the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has outlined guidelines for disposing of unclaimed embryos, not in keeping with the teaching of the Church, these are not always followed.

With storage of eggs and embryos on the rise errors in embryo storage, handling, testing, and transfer are also increasing.

In June 2026 a Florida couple in Orange County gave birth to a child that was not genetically theirs even though the woman was supposedly implanted with an embryo belonging to her and her husband. They recently came to a custody agreement with the genetically related parents.

A UCLA study found “an increasing number of women are choosing to freeze their eggs, but a much smaller number are returning to use them.” “The study found the number of planned elective egg freezing cycles nearly quadrupled between 2014 and 2021… only 5.7% of women who froze their eggs between 2014 and 2016 returned to use them within the study’s follow-up period of 5-7 years,” according to UCLA Health research.

And then there is the question of how to properly deal with these remaining embryos. Father Hawkins points to Dignitas Personae, n. 19: “It is an unjust situation which cannot be resolved by any morally licit solution. The Baptism and dignified burial may be the least offensive response, and one that allows the couple to begin the grieving journey.”

Another issue is the problem of surrogacy.

A case in point is that of the recent national high-profile case of surrogate mother, McKenna West. When pre-genetics tests were done, it was determined the baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). The genetic parents pressured the surrogate to have a second trimester abortion. Being that it would be what is called a D&E dismemberment abortion, she refused and moved to Texas where the child could be treated upon delivery. The genetic parents sued her.

When the baby was born, the genetic parents wanted the child back, but there was concern by the district court they would not pursue needed medical care. The Texas Supreme Court then determined to return the child to the genetic parents confirming “stabilizing and life-sustaining care shall continue to be provided to the baby.”

Editing of genes in human embryos or decision to terminate because of an illness is troublesome. Father Peter Latouf of St. Peter in DeLand said, “PGT (pre-genetic testing), obviously it can reveal certain abnormalities, and then they can just be discarded.” He suggests this desire to alter or abort a child based on such testing is “getting a little close to eugenics, where we’re just saying, well, this isn’t what I want, it’s not the baby I’m designing in my mind, and so we can just treat it, this selective reduction kind of idea. … A child, of course, is meant to be begotten, not made, which is what we say during our Creed every Sunday, you know, conceived through that act that’s unitive and procreative.”

Father Latouf said the replacement of the marital act with making life just an instrument is a moral line that’s being crossed. “And if from the very beginning of life, we’re treating life as just a commodity or something expendable or something I want and I don’t want this and now I do, then what’s the ripple down effect?”

Father Latouf points to Donum Vitae that states a child has the right to be conceived and brought into the world in marriage and by marriage.

“The big point is that children should never, ever be treated as an object or like an object of a transaction,” and that “love is involved … It comes down to the fact that separating procreation from the marital act itself is about dignity,” he said. “The Church says procreation must remain within that intimate self-giving of the spouses. And again, it all points to that same thing. The way life begins sets the tone for how we look at human dignity in general.”

For those experiencing difficulty conceiving or retaining pregnancy, the Catholic Church does approve of NaproTechnology to help correct medical issues so natural conception may take place. To find a doctor in the Diocese of Orlando, visit https://www.orlandodiocese.org/ministry/natural-family-planning/.

By Glenda Meekins and Lucas Blackwell of the Florida Catholic staff, October 8, 2026