MARRIAGE AND THE WORLD OF FAMILIES. WEEK 1 DAY 6. August 27. Although not as much as before, bearing children is almost taken for granted and when after a year there had been no sign of pregnancy both Sipho and Nomvula were getting worried. In their culture a woman was expected to be fertile and, if not, she could be put aside for another wife. The Church, following science, sees it differently. Research into infertility has identified many causes and the problem could well lie with the man. Sipho and Nomvula were fortunate that they were open to discuss the issue and get help.  “I wasn’t aware how complex the situation is from a Church teaching and a moral perspective such as implications of In vitro fertilisation.” Nomvula shared. “We are still exploring the issue for ourselves.”  

 Pope Francis:   The family is the setting in which a new life is not only born but also welcomed as a gift of God. Some couples are unable to have children.  We know that this can be a cause of real suffering for them.  At the same time, marriage was not instituted solely for the procreation of children. In cases, where, despite the intense desire of the spouses there are not children, marriage still retains its character.  Adoption is a very generous way to become parents, an act of love, offering the gift of a family to someone who has none. AL178-9.   A child deserves to be born of the mutual love of the spouses, and not by any other means, for he or she is not something owed to one but is a gift which is the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of the parents.   According to the order of creation conjugal love between a man and a woman and the transmission of life are ordered to each other. AL 80-81. Procedures that introduce a third party or artificial means are morally unacceptable.