Fertility Clinics and the Christian

I'm going to kind of shoot from the hip tonight. It is not that I haven't given this topic much thought, I'm just not going to prepare such a formal post as usual. I'm just going to share something that's on my mind, and I hope you will let me know what you think.

I find it odd, and an oversight, that so many people who are against abortion and embryonic stem cell research, based on the conviction that life begins at conception (a conviction I share), are OK with, and even quite supportive of in vitro fertilization. The procedure creates more fertilized eggs than are implanted, it creates more people than are given a chance at life. Thus it basically insures the death of many individuals.

It seems to me that most people who resort to fertility clinics are those who have put careers and other personal interests, other worldly pursuits before family, until they are beyond normal child-bearing years. They then expend huge resources trying to get pregnant while there are children in need of adoption, and putting at risk their health and the health of the child they are trying to conceive at their old age. This too seems to be the result of a selfish and worldly desire to want what they want, a child biologically their own.

I'm making generalizations that certainly do not describe everyone seeking the help of fertility clinics, nor every situation in which one would seek their help. I do think, however, that it describes much of what goes on and is worth thinking about. I realize that this issue will hit close to home for some, and my intent is not to cause harm or offense, but to get us all thinking consistently and Biblically about all of life and about all of our decisions. If there is a valid point here I do not seek to condemn anyone with it, but to encourage right living from here on out.