Andre Mikhail B.

Serra
2018-05168

There’s life in ART

The past decades have witnessed major advances in reproductive technology

and the Philippines was one, among other countries to be heavily criticized for it. On
1995, one of the most widely publicized, celebrated, and drew the most flak in the
country was the birth of a human baby resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since
then, IVF, and other forms of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has slowly made
its way to become normalized especially in a Catholic country like the Philippines.
However, it is already commonly accepted around the world that infertility is there
and it affects more than 80 million people worldwide. Most of those who suffer from
infertility live in developing countries and have no access on ART. And although
infertility may not be a major problem on public health, it is a great source of mental and
psychological issue for people suffering from it, especially those who really want to have
a family.
That’s why the developments in the field of ART have strengthened the hopes
and dreams of infertile people to resolve their infertility. However, these developments
come with a price because the ethical and social controversies about it also evolved.
When God said “Be fruitful and multiply”, people took that into heart and were
more than happy to comply. However, a small percentage of the population were
worried because of the delay or inability to bring forth children. However, when the first
baby conceived through ART was born, new hope was given to infertile couples. The
technology brought happiness and harmony to these families.
However, this doesn’t stop people from criticizing ART, or even the infertile
couples. Since then, no society has been openly acceptable on unnatural life. Because
of this, the couples who undergo through such are often subjected to scrutiny.
The criticism mostly roots from religious and ideological beliefs. In a country like
the Philippines, the sudden appearance and ascendance of ART seems to threaten the
traditional beliefs about family and reproduction. The Filipino family often treats
reproduction as sacred that it just cannot be artificial.
Other concerns deal with what’s best for society and the child. Will the society be
able to accept a child that grew artificially? Will the child accept that the parents he’s
living with now are not really his parents and he just grew artificially?
These questions are often the problems that are beyond control in the long run
because even the smartest scientists have no ways to control how a society acts.
However, the society are also in no place to judge infertile couples just trying to seek
happiness and experience what a normal couple does. This outweighs whatever moral
dilemmas ART deals with. If the infertile couples consider their new born child as a real
living creature, then why shouldn’t we?