“I want to have children with you.”
So much meaning is packed into these words, when a man or woman says them to a spouse. This openness to new life, this willingness to beget and raise children together, is essential to married love.
It is sad, then, that so many couples hoping to have children find it difficult to do so. It is
estimated today that one out of six couples will experience infertility. The suffering of
unanticipated childlessness is real. Catholic couples may feel this pain even more deeply as they hear the Church praise family life and teach that children are “the supreme gift of marriage.”
In an age of advances in reproductive medicine, many solutions are offered to couples
going through this distress. Some solutions offer real hope for restoring a couple’s natural, healthy ability to have children. Others pose serious moral problems by failing to respect the dignity of the couple’s marital relationship, of their sexuality, or of the child.
The Church has compassion for couples suffering from infertility and wants to be of real
help to them. At the same time, some “reproductive technologies” are not morally legitimate ways to solve those problems.~ from the USCCB publication Life-giving Love, in an Age of Technology
St. Dominic’s in Benicia, CA is researching the interest of our parishioners and those in surrounding Parishes for a Ministry supporting those who are, or have, struggled with infertility. If you’d like to participate please fill out the following form.
