MANY years ago, my mother returned from service as a nurse in Japan in World War II.
On her return, she married her sweetheart and soon discovered she was unable to have her own children due to contracting tuberculosis whilst abroad.
Though devastated at the news of this, she and her devout husband, both longing for a family, decided to adopt children.
They told the agency to let them know when a child was available – and the children were accepted unconditionally. They did this four times and I was number three.
There was no such thing as IVF programs in her day, and I thank God for that. I guess I was one of the fortunate ‘unwanted’ children, who was accepted by a loving couple, and raised in great faith to respect life – a piece of God himself.
So with all that is happening in the world regarding IVF and now stem cell research, I question why there has not been ongoing emphasis on adoption as an alternative for married couples who find themselves in the predicament of infertility.
Maybe the statistics will show that due to the ‘abortion escape route’, there are less children available for adoption, but then an emphasis on child birth instead of abortion would be more relevant.
This may sound like a marketing effect of human life, but encouraging life and the living is surely our Christian duty. Therefore, why is the Catholic Church worldwide not promoting adoption as an alternative to IVF?
Science has created the opportunity to make your own baby with the IVF program, while the already born await the opportunity of a family life through adoption.
MAREE GALE Hemmant, Qld
