PART I
What scriptures would you suggest for a single woman whose biological clock is about to stop ticking regarding becoming pregnant through artificial (donor) insemination? This seems controversial because she would be bringing a child into the world without a father figure until she gets married, as opposed to her adopting (as a single parent) a child who has already been abandoned by both parents. But on the other hand, a child to whom she gave birth would have a genetic connection to her. With adoption, the child has no genetic connection to the mother and the mother has to explain why both birth parents have abandoned the child. Also adoption (about four times more expensive than insemination) can be financially prohibitive to many single women. There seem to be many spiritual issues involved: selfishness, faith, patience, desire to procreate (bear fruit), and desire to love and give to a child. -- Marie Lena

You have made several very good points. Women desiring to conceive is a huge biblical theme, and there are many scriptures exhorting faith and patience. The maternal instincts are God-given. Of course, all our God-given instincts are fulfilled only in a proper context. Eating, sex, sleeping, work--these drives are good when pursued according to the will of God, and sinful otherwise. The Bible also teaches that children are a blessing from God. So is food, and so is money, but if we steal what is not ours we cannot rightly claim "God has blessed me." There is a right way to pursue God's blessings, and a wrong way.

We are familiar with the expense and difficulty of adoption, as we adopted our third child from China in 1995. Certainly, those who have adopted would agree, it's worth the expense. It is impossible to put a price tag on a human life! I do not believe that any of the problems arising from adoption are insuperable, however. (There is no shortage of happy adoptive families who will freely attest to this!)

Artificial insemination, if I understand your question, is not just problematic; it is morally wrong. Of course the problem evaporates if the donor is the husband of the woman. If it is someone else, however, we are in trouble biblically and morally. Being impregnated (apart from the case of rape) by anyone other than one's husband constitutes sin. Another man's sperm (apart from her husband) has no business being in a woman's body. God's plan for family is clear in the Bible, beginning in the book of Genesis.

No single woman is forced to become pregnant. She may fervently desire to be a mother, but if this desire eclipses her willingness to become a mother God's way, she is out of line with the will of God. No, not all single women have the benefit of a husband to assist in bringing up a child, though this is God's preferred plan throughout his word. Many women are already mothers or pregnant before they become followers of Jesus Christ. Yet to get pregnant, whether through intercourse or through AI, is wrong. The sole exception, again, is if impregnation comes through her husband.

PART II
Greetings Dr. Jacoby!  I love your website! You have a wealth of information on your site. I am always referring my friends to your archives about the biblical questions you have.  Recently there was a question posted about Artificial Insemination. You said that "Being impregnated (apart from the case of rape) by anyone other than one's husband constitutes sin." I was concerned because I am sure that there are many married couples in the kingdom who have had to use artificial insemination to get pregnant (us included) and may have had to use borrowed sperm or eggs. We didn't have to use borrowed sperm... but I do know of other couples with those types of problems. Should they feel guilty for what they did?

Also, I have another ethical question. I know of a couple who used IVF, and there were many leftover fertilized eggs there were not implanted. They had the option to keep them frozen, donate them to research (in which case they would eventually die), or donate them to another couple. There are moral dilemmas with all those options. What do you think? Thanks for your input. -- Diane (Los Angeles)

Dear Diane,

Perhaps I have taken too strong a stand on what is a gray area. (I even talked through this issue yesterday with my wife.) The Bible doesn't address this directly, and it can be hard to get guidance along explicit biblical lines. I do not mean to upset anyone who out of the best motives is building a family. Making anybody feel uncomfortable is not my goal, much less calling anyone's motives into account.

I have given some thought to the excess-fertilized-eggs dilemma also. We too have had friends relying on IVF. Whatever we decide, we need to decide whether we believe these fertilized ova are human beings. And if we decide in the affirmative, we must be careful to think and act with thoroughness. I have recommended to people to limit the number of frozen eggs, or plant all and leave it to the Lord to determine which survive. My point: let's think theologically about these matters, not just pragmatically.

I believe implanting an already fertilized egg, regardless of the donors, is different in principle to receiving sperm from someone other than one's husband. The first is analogous to adoption (in my mind). The second is not. I realize that this is my opinion; I regret being too black and white in my previous reply, and I am happy to discuss it further.

Further, I discovered that the orthodox Jewish perspective has a lot to say to us: "When formulating their position on the new technologies, rabbis have in general been concerned about three fundamental Jewish decrees:

  • Consanguinity is sinful.
  • The wasting of seed (masturbation) is sinful.
  • It is a sin for a married woman to conceive by the sperm of a man not her husband.

Most Jewish scholars,  however, believe that the artificial injection of the seed of a stranger us not itself an adulterous act, and thus the woman's husband is not obliged to divorce her, nor is the child illegitimate... This modern position has a powerful parallel in the New Testament account of the conception and birth of Jesus, including the response of Joseph to Mary's pregnancy (Matthew 1:18-25)." -- Robert D. Orr, M.D. et al, Life & Death Decisions: Help in Making Tough Choices About Bioethical Issues (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1990).

Obviously we are navigating some very problematic bioethical waters. Thank you for your email!

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