There are from a Christian perspective significant ethical issues with assisted donor conception i.e. surrogacy, sperm & egg donation etc. There are serious doubts about whether third-party involvement is at all allowable from a Christian perspective and there are also significant questions about children being given full disclosure of their identity. Yet we see gay men discussing the market in supermodel surrogates, lesbians taking sperm donations and consistently seemingly showing a strong preference for genetically related children over adoption.  

In all the debates about same-sex marriage and the church what I’m not sure I am seeing are Christians asking these questions that are intimately bound up with the issue. What methods of family formation are permissible? I feel sure that the law of unintended consequences is going to have an effect and compromise here is going to lead to further ethical compromises in other areas. 

So some questions.

• If, as a Christian, you are affirming of same-sex marriages, when a same-sex couple expresses a desire for a genetically related child what does this desire mean?
• Why is this desire for children not considered a clue or relevant to sexual identity?
• On what basis is parental desire subordinate to sexual desire?
• Why is identity formed from the one but not the other?
• Can it, or even should it, not be the other way around? That we subordinate our desire for companionship & sex based on our desire to have children.
• What is the significance of technology which is the foundational premise that allows for these options?
• If parental desire remains subordinate to sexual identity have you considered the ethical issues surrounding family formation?
• If you think these reproductive methods are allowable, what is the rationale & theology to support this?
• If you have concerns regarding these methods would you counsel same-sex couples differently to other-sex couples? If so, why?
• Are there justice issues related to surrogacy and if so how will these be addressed?
• Finally who are you reading that informs your thinking on these questions? 

What else needs to be asked?

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Sources & Further Reading

• How IVF Made Its Way into Evangelical Pro-Life Debates
• Don’t Think About Pink Elephants: When Gay Conservatives Go Rogue on Orthodox Christianity
• Here are some of the ethical issues from a non-Christian perspective.
• Reproductive technology Archives – John Wyatt
• Artificial wombs intended to save premature babies — for now. Next step could be ‘immaculate gestation’
• Japan needs more sperm donors