Ivf Case Study

As a member of a Catholic Hospital ethics board I would see many ethical problems in this case.   In vitro fertilization is not a natural process, and the process of procreating should not be tampered with.   Conceiving a child is meant to be done only one way.   Having a child is a blessing from God, and the process of in vitro fertilization is not the way God intended.   Pope Paul VI has taught that there is an "inseparable connection, willed by God, and unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning."   Also, there is an ethical problem with stem cell research.   The Catholic Church teaches that medical research must refrain from operations on live embryos, unless there is moral certainty of not causing harm to the life or integrity of the unborn child and mother, and on condition that the parents have given free and informed consent to the procedure.   And since stem cell research inevitably causes the death of the embryos, this is not moral.     
I would not recommend that the hospital allow John, Liz, and their doctors to go forward with their plans.   From a Catholic standpoint, this procedure is not moral, and the hospital representing these beliefs should not give treatment that is in violation of Catholic beliefs.   In vitro fertilization violates the rights of the child and deprives him of his filial relationship with his parental origins and can hinder the maturing of his personality.   The Catholic Church condemns both in vitro fertilization and stem cell research, and I would strongly argue for this not to take place in our hospital.