For couples struggling to conceive a child, in vitro fertilization has been a medical standard for the past 30 years. The Catholic Church has long opposed the process as immoral, because it separates conception from the marital act and it destroys embryos. With the procedure's prevalence in the medical world, some Catholic couples are led to believe they are out of medical options after a doctor recommends it. However, officials from the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska, say that in vitro fertilization, or IVF, is not a miracle procedure and they report that more effective options exist. Dr. Kristina Pakiz, associate medical consultant, said couples "do not have to feel trapped in a corner where they are told they will never have a child without in vitro fertilization. The truth is that there is superior gynecologic health care available to them." She said IVF has a success rate of about 30 percent and increases the risk of high-risk pregnancy and birth defects. About five in six embryos created in the process will die. IVF does not address root causes of infertility; only a detailed workup that helps doctors diagnose and treat infertility as the product of an underlying condition can do that. When infertility is seen as an underlying medical condition and treated accordingly, success rates for conceiving increase.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...