In vitro fertilization (IVF) does not treat infertility.
The procedure has been in the news a lot lately. Democrats are trying to turn IVF into a campaign issue, which has Republicans panicking (as usual). Meanwhile, Southern Baptists have concluded that the IVF industry’s standard practices — creating “extra” human embryos, eugenically screening them, and indefinitely storing or outright destroying the leftover embryos — are wrong, and that Christians ought to reflect seriously on the ethics of IVF in itself.
Yet overlooked in all of this is that IVF is a workaround for infertility, rather than a real treatment for it. Sometimes IVF works. But despite the current hype, it also has a high failure rate, is expensive, has risks and potential complications, and, of course, comes with a bevy of ethical issues. Nonetheless, there is a tendency to quickly push women into trying IVF without treating the underlying health conditions that result in fertility problems.
A welcome response to this comes from Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, and James Lankford of Oklahoma, who have introduced the RESTORE Act. According to Hyde-Smith, this will “focus federal resources toward promoting research on the leading causes of infertility, while making information on possible treatments more readily available to the women and men struggling with fertility problems.” Which is to say, it would push the relevant federal agencies and programs to actually try to help heal people of the underlying medical causes of their fertility problems.
The RESTORE Act
