|
Question:
I am of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Faith and have been observing some extremely close
friends (of the same faith) as they have tried and tried (for 10
years) to determine why it is that they have not become parents.
They have recently learned that the problem is not that they
cannot conceive a child, in fact the woman has been pregnant on
numerous occasions - its just that the problem mother cannot
sustain the pregnancy due to a medical condition.
What happens is that
the fetus, once created, is identified as a "foreign" object and
is attacked by the mother's immune system and destroyed. My
friends are desperately trying to rectify this condition
involving the would-be mother's over-active immune system, with
the assistance of several physicians world-wide and risky (not
to mention very costly) medications, but there has been no
change so far.
Would you please
advise on the Orthodox Church's position on surrogate pregnancy
in these circumstances?
|
|
Answer:
Very
Rev. Ihor Kutash
kutash@unicorne.org
This is a difficult question to answer.
Modern technology has given many challenges to our ancient faith. Things
once impossible now become possible. Who could have thought centuries
ago that parents eager to fulfill the natural and God-given drive to
reproduce fellow human-beings would be able to consider the possibility
of another mother bearing such a child?
Ah, but there is indeed a precedent in the Bible. Sarai, Abram's wife,
eager to help her husband achieve God's promise that he would be the
father of many nations, offered her maid-servant Hagar to be a mother
for his child. She would simply have to give birth while lying upon
Sarai's lap. The Bible also shows how this arrangement did not work as
planned. The child, Ishmael, was indeed beloved by God and Abraham (new
name given him after Sarai gave birth to Isaac - she also received the
new name of Sarah) but both he and his mother had to continue their
lives apart from Abraham's family, to resolve the complex inter-personal
relations that developed out of this initially generous and loving
gesture by Sarai.
The consideration of such inter-personal relations recently formed the
basis for the following reflection by the Bioethics Committee of the
Holy Synod of the Church of Greece: "Surrogate motherhood may have a
positive aspect for it assists child bearing. However, since the
developing relationship with the embryo during pregnancy is an essential
and integral part not only of motherhood, but also of the embryonic
development, the continuation of the relationship between the surrogate
mother and the child is unjust for the genetic parents; its interruption
is unjust for the surrogate mother; and, furthermore, both solutions are
unjust for the child, for they disrupt family cohesion." (
http://www.bioethics.org.gr/en/03_c.html#4 ).
Perhaps the best course may be to for your friends to continue to pursue
the path of seeking to become natural parents - and you continue
to assist them with your prayers and concern (oh, and they should pray
too and prayerfully reflect upon the course that God is showing them in
their life). Should this path lead to the emergence of another little
human in the world through their efforts, the cost - financial and
otherwise - will certainly be seen to have been worth it. Should this
not be the case they will at least know that they have done all that
they could for this to come about and at some point may choose the
equally noble and blessed course of adopting, legally or emotionally,
another child (or children) who will benefit from their parental love
and concern.
I suppose I should also note that the Orthodox (who celebrate the Feast
of the Annunciation 9 months to the day before the Feast of the Nativity
- thus hailing the human incarnation of God the Word from the moment of
His miraculous conception by Mary through the Holy Spirit) would never
be able to view the little human simply as "fetus", nor the surrogate
mother's womb simply as "home".
|
