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The Incubus of Infertility: Origins of Judgment and Sources of Healing
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11459 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1994 |
3,296 Words |
| Author
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Walter W. Benjamin
Walter W. Benjamin is professor of religion and applied ethics
at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. |
Pr?is Infertility is a condition that affects 15 percent of all couples, putting many of them through a years-long gauntlet of anguish.
Religion has contributed to this anguish in a number of ways, including the following:
The Concept of Natural Law: There is a barely conscious feeling among many people that those couples who are unable to achieve pregnancy are in violation of natural law.
Gnosticism: The spiritual-material dualism of gnosticism crept into the Christian church through the back door. The spiritual elite who took vows made it clear to the majority that they were allowed to enjoy the "low good" of sexual pleasure only if they paid the price of the consequence of their pleasure--the bearing and nurture of children.
But there are also religious doctrines that are a source of solace and healing for infertile couples. Among them are:
All People Are Children of God: The core teaching of Western religions is that persons are accepted because of their being. They are granted a status as children of God, irrespective of their reproductive ability.
The Material World Is Holy: Infertility often brings about anxious feelings about femininity, masculinity, and sexual attractiveness. But our bodies are vessels of the divine.
"I have had four miscarriages. My husband and I were devastated by each one." The body of the well-groomed woman in her midthirties shook as she stood and pointed a finger at me. "We would do literally almost anything to have our own child."
I had been speaking to a meeting of the organization RESOLVE on the subject of the moral ambiguity of in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, and surrogate mothering. Her recital gave me a glimpse into the personal purgatory that many infertile couples experience.
RESOLVE is a rapidly growing, nationwide organization that offers counseling, referral, and support services to infertile couples. Presently, infertility affects 15 percent of all couples. It is estimated that by the twenty-first century, close to 25 percent will be unable to have their own biological children, because the factors
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