Catholic sites have been reacting to companies incorporating IVF embryos in their jewelry. Take, for example, this company, which allows you to design a wearable keepsake of your unused embryos—from rings to earrings to bracelets and more. The company claims to have a “deep respect for life” by “encapsulat[ing] the essence of life in stunning, handcrafted jewelry.” Ironic.
On the face of it, this may seem like a nice alternative to simply discarding unused embryos in the waste bin. In reality, this company is profiting off children and using embryos as if they were nothing more than designable commodities.
But what’s the big deal with discarding embryos in the first place? you might wonder. Well, even this company recognizes that embryos deserve to be treated with respect and dignity—because they are more than just “a clump of cells.” They are unique human beings from the moment of their fertilization, even if their existence is suspended by freezing. These embryos are actually, not just potentially, the children of their parents. Their sex, eye color, hair color, and the rest of their genotype is already determined and will become fully expressed if their environmental conditions allow for their development. This is a matter of not opinion, but biology.
In short, these companies are not just dealing with cells and sentimentality. They are dealing with human beings. Worse, they are incentivizing parents to end the lives of their children for the sake of turning them into a fashion piece.
Clearly, this is inhumane. Not only does this option leave open the possibility that these deceased humans will one day be donated to a thrift store or thrown into the garbage, but it reduces embryos to property. No longer are they precious children whom parents ought to protect; instead, they are accessories, created for the parents’ use and benefit.
It’s likely that very few parents utilize these companies with this evil intent. But this is how Satan tempts people to evil: by perverting a (somewhat) good intention.
A mother might think, “These are my babies. I am sad to consider all they could have been but will never be. I do not want to part with them or have them thrown away, as if they were meaningless.” Those are good, healthy thoughts. Every caring mother feels them.
But suppose this mother is older, and carrying her child to term would be dangerous for both herself and the baby. The IVF crytobank is calling, requesting the hundreds to thousands of dollars it costs annually to renew her embryo storage plan. But finances are tight this year, and she cannot afford to renew it. What should she do?
If she takes it upon herself to Google this question, she will likely be presented with these options:
- Donate the embryo for someone else to bring to term.
- “Compassionately” transfer the embryo to her uterus when she is least likely to present a hospitable environment (so the child has a natural death).
- Allow the clinic to kill and dispose of the embryo.
- Donate the embryo to be killed for research.
- Have the embryo killed, and then make the child into jewelry.
Of the first four options, none seems fulfilling for the mother who naturally yearns to be united with her children. Practically all involve the life of her child ending, and even option one does not guarantee involvement in her child’s life.
Thus option number five: keeping her baby always with her in the form of a wearable piece. Even if it means the child’s death, which can be rationalized as inevitable, this seems like the best alternative.
In this decision, however, the child’s physical well-being is neglected for the parents’ emotional well-being. It becomes selfishly “I”-centered. I can’t or don’t want to have any more babies. But I couldn’t bear another family raising my child. I am not ready to let go of my child. So I will let my child die and be turned into a necklace, which may or may not be misplaced, sold, or donated fifty years from now.
But what other options does this woman have? you might ask. It’s worth remembering that the child can be kept alive. But supposing that option becomes impossible, then one way or another, the embryo must die. In that case . . . well, what ordinary way do we allow the deceased to rest? We bury them.
This is not to say all women must bury (or cremate) their embryos. But for those who naturally desire to visit the remains of their loved ones, there should be an opportunity for that—not in the form of a necklace, but in a permanent resting place.
“Keepsake embryo” companies should not come as a surprise. When God’s role in creation becomes replaced by IVF companies, children become the fruit of entitlement and demand. From his beginning, this child is treated as a product, and so it is unsurprising that his end is treated the same: when the child supply is too large, his body is turned into a product that can be yet again customized and sold.
All of this is a twisted perversion of God’s beautiful plan for creation. Children are meant to be the fruits of a loving encounter between husband and wife—an encounter where the couple co-creates with God. The beginning and end of each person’s life should be only selfless love.
I feel for the women whose hearts are restless, pondering all that their babies are and could have been. The loss of any child brings (or should bring) a kind of horror. It is difficult to direct any person on how to wrestle with that pain.
Resolving this restlessness, however, should never harm the children. Children are not and should never be treated as products for our own consolation or benefit. Their bodies deserve to be at rest. As long as these embryo jewelry companies would rather commodify them, they cannot truly value and respect the dignity of human life.