In vitro fertilization and genetics
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article by Dr Dominique Beaufils examines the ethical problems raised by the interaction between in vitro fertilization (IVF) and genetic research. Adopting both a medical and theological approach, the author sets out the technical realities of IVF that are often poorly understood — embryo reduction, supernumerary embryos, embryo transfer — before analyzing the issues surrounding genetic research applied to the human embryo: eugenics, gene therapy, sex determination. The central idea is that medical research, in pursuing the good of humanity in general, risks sacrificing individual human lives. The theological contribution lies in the orthodox affirmation that human life begins at fertilization and that each being constitutes a unique person, the object of divine love. The article invites the Church to formulate a clear position, neither authoritarian nor complacent, by discerning a path where science remains compatible with evangelical teaching.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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