All humans are equal, but some are more equal than others

The family has always been the foundation of society. It is the natural context for each individual to be taught the value of morality and to first learn their role in society, whatever good form that role may take, either as a man or a woman.

This is slowly being eroded as many of us no longer see the need for a father and a mother. Many of us are under the illusion that a child who is not given the opportunity to experience the presence of both parental figures will nonetheless readily become a fully formed member of society. Through IVF, same-sex couples can order a child whom they will raise as their own, be they two women or two men, but who is to teach a boy to be a man if not a man? Who is to teach a girl how to become a woman if not a woman?

Perhaps one of the most distressing aspects of IVF is that the child who has been conceived could end up having numerous parental figures without (in some countries) knowing for sure the identity of their biological parents (if an egg donor is used, for example). Consider the very likely possibility that the gestational carrier develops an attachment to the child, the ache of her empty arms longing for what used to occupy her now vacant womb. She shares no genetic links with the child, so can she really be called the mother? The egg provider does share genetics but legally may have no claim to the child.

Those who commissioned the conception of the child, neither of whom carried the child and possibly only one of whom shares a genetic connection with the child have some claim by law. In some countries, including the UK, the gestational carrier is at least free to keep the child if she changes her mind; however, she is certainly separated from the child deliberately, as is the egg donor, quite possibly for life. There is no stability for the child in this equation, only the likelihood of confusion and sadness. This is a new dilemma: the family structure in these cases has become warped and looks like nothing seen before.

The IVF procedure allows the parents to sieve through the embryos before implantation, selecting those that meet their standards. The lack of respect shown for these children is demonstrated in the way the undesired 93%¹ are treated after the selection process: they are discarded or frozen for future ‘use’. Is this the way human beings are to be treated? Where are their human rights, their dignity? The greed of our culture has seeped into our treatment of the most vulnerable of our society. We want, therefore we must have, even at the expense of human life.

The life giving love that is supposed to exist within sexual intercourse is non-existent; the mystery that is the union of a man and woman is divorced from this new creation. People are treated as products to be manufactured and bought; the miracle of life has lost its meaning. Humanity is taking a drastic turn which will lead us into an age of unknown atrocities because if life is stripped of its value, the weak are subject to the whims and desires of the strong and the very thing that separated us from animals, our humanity, is lost!

As opposed to the loving care of God, doctors emotionlessly peer at their human subjects in petri dishes, seeking to manipulate the mystery which is human reproduction. What is to prevent cloning, genetic modification and so on? We talk of rights and liberties but it seems these are only held to be sacrosanct for some. Until the veil is lifted and people see the true nature of the horrors that are taking place, millions will perish and by the time grief takes hold and we see the true error of our ways, it will be too late; at the very least, too late for the victims of this silent holocaust.

This post was written by Eyo Esua, one of our summer interns.

_{1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255107/1-7-million-embryos-created-IVF-thrown-away-just-7-cent-lead-pregnancy.html}