There is perhaps no greater force in a woman’s life than the desire to have a biological child.
For many, there is suffering and endless heartbreak when this doesn’t happen naturally.
Some will do anything to bear a child, and one couple’s journey to conceive makes us wonder if we could go to the same lengths.
A photo of a beautiful rainbow baby – a child born after a miscarriage or stillbirth – recently went viral.
We often see these photos on social media. We’re thrilled for parents who have overcome loss and heartbreak to bring a healthy baby home.
But this photo is far different than any other that has ever been posted, and it can be viewed as both awe-inspiring and controversial.
After four years of struggling to conceive through in-vitro fertilization – and after three miscarriages — a couple brought home a healthy baby boy.
But here’s where we should give pause, because this is not a “typical” conception by artificial means.
The birth mom took over 1,600 injections in order to conceive this baby.
And the couple is homosexual.
The story of Patricia and Kimberly “O’Neill” was first reported on CNN after their baby’s photo was released.
In it, their son is surrounded by the 1,660 syringes used to conceive him, placed around him in the shape of a heart.
“My wife saved every single needle that I injected, all capped and plastic seals around them and everything,” Patricia explained to CNN.
The “O’Neills” started the process of trying to conceive in 2014, three years before they “married.”
After two failed attempts by artificial insemination, the couple switched doctors and began in vitro fertilization (IVF) – often a painful and heartbreaking process for the mother.
Five embryos were conceived, and the first implantations resulted in miscarriage.
Nothing worked — and here is where many couples would choose to adopt rather than continue painful, expensive, and possibly dangerous treatments.
But not the “O’Neills.” When Patricia could not conceive, tests were run and it was found that she had a dangerous genetic blood clotting disorder – it too increased the likelihood of miscarriage, as well as threats to Patricia’s health.
She also had inflammation markers and low enzyme levels that also increased the likelihood of miscarriage.
Yet, they proceeded. Their doctor continued on. Two shots a day to combat the blood clotting disorder. Numerous hormonal injections – hundreds and hundreds of shots over four years.
And at a price tag of over $40,000.
Now, no price can be put on a human life, and many of us don’t understand the heartbreak of not being able to conceive naturally.
But we may ask ourselves, would we have the strength to continue on when faced with this many obstacles?
And it raises some important questions for our society.
How far should doctors allow women to go in order to have a biological child when there are so many underlying factors that could endanger both the mother and child?
What else is at play? The pharmaceutical companies and medical industry are making millions by helping desperate couples to artificially conceive.
And at what point do couples decide that these expensive and painful treatments are perhaps unnatural, especially in the case of homosexual couples who face additional physical obstacles in the journey to conceive a biological child?
As progressives continue to normalize homosexual marriage, adoption — and even these couples artificially conceiving a child together — how much of this becomes physically dangerous for mother and child?
Or, is the drive to have a biological child so powerful that we will do nearly anything in our power to bring home a beautiful baby like the “O’Neills?”
Christian leaders often find themselves counseling couples on the moral and ethical questions surrounding artificial means of conceiving a child.
One important moral consideration that should be discussed for Christian couples who use IVF is, what happens to remaining frozen embryos?
Crosswalk discusses this issue, saying that, “Seeing that God sets forth principles to safeguard the life of those created in his likeness (Genesis 9:6, Exodus 20:13), shouldn’t we, those who profess to follow him, also provide for the safety of our embryonic neighbors, and love them as we love ourselves?”
Because life begins at conception, Christian leaders state that if couples do receive IVF treatments to make sure that each embryo be given a chance for life.
Some labs destroy them as “biohazard waste,” some are donated for stem-cell research, again destroying a life, but it is worth noting that the “O’Neills” did give each of their embryos a chance at life, the final one resulting in a beautiful little boy.
Christian leaders and physicians can also discuss with couples that any remaining embryos can be released for adoption by other couples struggling to conceive.
God has a different plan for all of us, and His plan may not necessarily be what we expected.
Perhaps the “O’Neills” should have realized that having a biological child in a homosexual relationship would be difficult and dangerous – because it’s unnatural.
They were willing to take any risk and make any sacrifice to have this child. It is fortunate that mother and child are both healthy with all the risks involved.
What do you think of this viral photo and the lengths gone to by this homosexual couple in order to have a biological child? Leave us your comments. Follow us on Instagram.
