Q&A with the Archbishop - Why can't the Church support IVF as a valid fertility option?

Couples who cannot conceive children are given the option of in vitro fertilisation, but is it an option worth pursuing? What does the Church have to say about IVF?

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge explains that IVF is contrary to the Church's vision of marriage and childbearing.

[midsummersnight]

I truly feel sick. As a lifelong Catholic that's now married & of childbearing age, I cannot believe what I'm hearing.
I'd LOVE to ask this man what he thinks about medical intervention of ANY sort... Does he take blood pressure medication? How about cholesterol meds? OH, ...and if it's God's will for you to have a stroke, is it acceptable to be taken to the hospital and have physicians work on you? What about a heart attack? A necessary blood transfusion?
I'm genuinely curious.

This breaks my heart and makes me question all of my beliefs.

[dearally]

I understand that the ‘big fertility’ industry is morally bankrupt.
I have a Christian friend who found an ivf specialist willing to implant all embryos that resulted from thier cycle of IVF whether they were abnormal or normal.
This couple was committed to leaving no embryos behind.
They were also ‘together’ to retrieve the sperm.
They honestly were trying from their heart to be as morally responsible as they could and still do IVF.
Is it possible for to do IFV in a morally responsible way?

[Maryalexandra]

So the church’s position is that the most important part of conception is the physicality between husband and wife and because IVF doesn’t fulfill that physical role it is wrong?
It is better to adopt a child conceived via impregnation outside of a marriage, by rape, etc., and in many cases, not only with a lack of love, but with a forcefulness of hatred? While conception under those situations aren’t ideal, it is better from the Catholic perspective, to adopt a child who was conceived out of hatred than a married couple, who love each other to conceive of a child using IVF? IVF is wrong due to the use of science, as opposed to physicality, never mind, marriage or love. Most people who are undergoing IVF are married and are going to far greater lengths to conceive than the average couple, so you must infer that there is a deep yearning for and love of the child who comes from IVF. It seems somewhat contradictory. It would make a lot more sense to just keep it simple and say that it is unnatural and therefore it is not of God, period. But doing so would be problematic because then the church would have to acknowledge the use of modern medicine and other ways in which the church does not condemn, and rethink that. I’m sure there were more than one clergy member who was opposed to the use of modern medicine over the centuries.

[ryankofler]

The church is big and it keeps getting bigger

[fredphilippi]

You do realize most people do not follow the Catholic Church's advice on sexuality, don't you?

[foxybrown]

I have noticed a correlation in society with the rise of In Vitro and seemingly soulless humans. Without the permission of God -- might those being born out of nature be missing the soul/sol/sun? And does this tie into the biblical separation of the wheat from the tares?

[johndoe]

It's a part of general healthcare in the Scandinavian countries.

[sigithebum]

Fasten your sitbelts, because Roe v Wade got overturned. What's next?