When Carol B. and her husband found out that they were unable to
conceive a child, it seemed a logical step to visit an artificial
insemination clinic. At this clinic, Carol B. would have eggs produced
by her body fertilized with the sperm of an anonymous donor.
About one out of every six couples is infertile. The clinics which
do artificial insemination analyze why it is that the couple is having
trouble conceiving. If the husband's sperm count is low, live sperm
from a donor may be used. This is either artificially placed in the
woman's cervix or injected directly into the uterus. It is an involved
treatment as it must be timed precisely with the woman's ovulation
cycle. The success rate for this type of artificial insemination is 10
to 17 percent and the process must often be repeated six times or more
in order to be successful.
Carol B. was given the donor sperm and the process was repeated
several times during that year at a cost of over $17,000.00 to Carol
and her husband. Even at this, the artificial insemination was
unsuccessful. Carol and her husband, depressed at the failure,
financially deplete and desperate for a child, adopted a six year old.
Four years later, Carol received a call from the clinic where she
had her artificial insemination treatments. The donor of sperm used in
her treatments, she was told, had just come down with AIDS and the
clinic strongly suggested that she be tested. A test revealed that
Carol is indeed, HIV positive. Now, eleven years later, Carol lives
with a cloud over her head knowing that any day, she might come down
with AIDS.
Over 80,000 women receive this treatment yearly and yet, only five
states have laws requiring that prospective donors be tested for STD and
HIV. The Merck manual makes the comment that because of this danger of
disease, live sperm SHOULD NOT be used and the book further suggests the
use of frozen sperm. However, since viruses are sometimes not killed by
freezing, would this insure protection against AIDS?
The Catholic Catechism has this to say about artificial
insemination:
"Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by
the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm
or ovum...) are gravely immoral. These techniques infringe the
child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and
bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses' 'right
to become a father and a mother only through each other'...The act
which brings the child into existance is no longer an act by which
two persons give themselves to one another, but one that 'entrusts
the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and
biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the
origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship is
contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents
and children" [articles 2376-2377]
The Catechism goes on to say that the Gospel does not consider
physical infertility an absolute evil. The couple should draw closer
together in love and perhaps share their love through adoption or
through 'performing demanding services for others'.
Practically speaking if one follows the suggestion of the church,
one would likely be protected from the fate of Carol and others like
her, who after enduring much pain and spending large sums of money with
no successful return, find out that they are dying of AIDS. Food for
thought...
BIOBLIOGRAPHY
COMPTON'S INTERACTIVE ENCYCLOPEDIA (1992 Compton's New Media Inc.) <on
CD rom>
THE MERCK MANUAL (16TH edition, 1992, Merck & Co, New Jersey)
THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (Librera Editrice Vaticana,
Liguori, MO, 1994)
Other:
Carol B. (name changed) told her story in a recent interview on a TV talk
show.
