Jeff at the Curt Jester makes a point in this post: in the debate over embryonic stem cell research I have heard/read more than one commentary that reveals ignorance of the Church's teaching about IVF - In Vitro Fertilization. Some people accuse opponents of embryonic stem cell research of being hypocritical because there is not much opposition to IVF from people who oppose embryonic stem cell research.
I have always been aware of Church teaching on IVF - since I have Turners Syndrome, fertility is of great interest to me. But in case anyone who comes across this blog is unaware of Church teaching in this matter, the Church teaches that IVF is wrong! See below from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2374 Couples who discover that they are sterile suffer greatly. "What will you give me," asks Abraham of God, "for I continue childless?"164 And Rachel cries to her husband Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!"165
2375 Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed "at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God."166
2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) 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."167
2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. The act which brings the child into existence 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 of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children."168 "Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses' union . . . . Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person."169
2378 A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The "supreme gift of marriage" is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged "right to a child" would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right "to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents," and "the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception."170
2379 The Gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord's Cross, the source of all spiritual fecundity. They can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others.
In other words, the Church teaches that In-Vitro Fertilization is wrong for the same reason that artificial birth control is wrong - both purposefully separate the act of making love with the act of conceiving a child. That embryos not used in IVF procedures are discarded, as this article says, is another reason why the Church opposes IVF. This is an example of a slippery slope, where one immoral act leads to another, perhaps worse, evil. And no, I'm not saying that people who resort to IVF are evil here, I'm just saying that it is wrong and can lead to worse wrongs. And no, this doesn't mean married infertile couples can't have sex, or that their marriage isn't fruitful.
Anyhow, check out the Pope Paul VI Institute on work being done that is compatible with Church teaching. I am speaking as someone who has known almost all her life that she will never conceive or carry a child in her womb. I know it is difficult. I also know that there are many children who desperately need loving parents. Also, I intend to adopt an IVF clinic in my prayers, as Jeff suggests. I would ask anyone who comes across this blog to do the same!
So there! (BTW, the photo is a baby picture of my 3 year old nephew.)
His Holiness Pope Benedict has declared Sunday, July 23rd, a day of Prayer and Penance for Peace in the Middle east. 
