by Emma Waters, First Things
When Anna, a pianist at her local church, began to show the unmistakable signs of pregnancy, her elders assumed it was unplanned and prepared to offer her counseling and support. They were shocked by what she told them. This was not an unplanned pregnancy at all, Anna explained lightheartedly. She was carrying a child as a surrogate for her sister-in-law, who had endured infertility and recurrent miscarriages. “There is nothing immoral or unbiblical about this pregnancy,” she assured them.
The elders were at a loss for words. They knew that the church had not directly addressed this issue before and that Anna hadn’t spoken to any of the pastors or leaders about it. What should they make of Anna’s choice? Was it a model to commend to Christian women? Or was it a practice to be lovingly but firmly corrected?
C. Ben Mitchell shared this case study at the June 2026 launch of the Anglican Bioethics Center, and it reflects the real state of many churches today. Congregants are making weighty decisions about infertility and reproductive technology without ever hearing their church speak to them, and church leaders are unsure what to say and how to act when faced with those decisions.
Christians can no longer afford to be silent, especially as the issue moves front and center in the national political debate. In 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos are persons thrust in vitro fertilization into the national spotlight, and both presidential candidates rushed to claim the “pro-IVF” mantle.
I believe that 2024 may prove to be for IVF what 1973 was for abortion: a wake-up call to evangelicals and the beginning of a national movement to consistently honor life from the moment of conception.