Q&A: IVF to Prevent an Adult-Onset Genetic Disease
IVF to Prevent an Adult-Onset Genetic Disease
Question
Hello Rabbi,
My husband has a genetic disease of polycystic kidneys (a disease that mainly manifests at an older age, around 50–60, but can also appear earlier). It leads to kidney failure that requires dialysis and a kidney transplant, a very unpleasant situation. Doctors recommended that we do IVF in order to avoid passing the disease on to our children. I’m interested in whether there is any halakhic ruling on the subject, and more generally your thoughts on the moral discussion. Something about this artificial intervention in the natural process of having children, when we can do so naturally, feels wrong to me. My thoughts are that by the time our children’s generation reaches that age, maybe there will already be a good treatment for the disease, and there are also risks of embryo mix-ups, like in the Assuta case. IVF is also not a pleasant procedure, although of course not as unpleasant as kidney failure… In short, I’d be glad to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Thank you very much, and have a pleasant rest of the week 🙂
Answer
I am not familiar with the details of the procedure and its risks, so I’m answering only based on my thoughts at the moment. Of course, it is advisable to consult doctors.
I think that if there is a medical way that is safer for the children, that is preferable. I do not see any problem with artificial medical intervention in a natural process. What is wrong with artificiality? Isn’t taking medicine or having surgery also an artificial intervention? I also see no connection at all to moral questions. This is purely a technical medical question. In my opinion, the risk of embryo mix-ups is completely negligible, certainly after what happened. In my view, it is not worth factoring in. Therefore I see no reason to reject the medical recommendation, and in my opinion it is not right to rely on the chance of future medical improvement. A doubt does not override a certainty.
In the end, in my opinion you should decide based on your willingness to undergo the suffering involved in the process itself, and not because of moral questions.
Good luck and a complete recovery.
Discussion on Answer
The semen extraction is done for the sake of procreation and is not in vain. Health considerations are definitely relevant here.
Is there justification for extracting semen for this, when pregnancy can be achieved through marital relations? In other words, this is not a fertility problem, where one could explain that the semen is extracted because there is no other way to become pregnant.