by Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM, for the National Catholic Bioethics Center
March 18, 2025
There is perhaps no bioethical topic more hotly debated among Catholics than the morality of adopting frozen embryos. This issue arose after the unequivocal condemnation of the practice of in vitro fertilization (IVF) by the Instruction Donum Vitae issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1987. IVF frequently involves the conception of more human embryos than the couple initiating the process desire to bring to birth. These so-called “spare” human embryos are left in a state of suspended animation in large containers cooled to -321 degrees Fahrenheit (-196 degrees Celsius) and stored until a decision is made as to their fate. The extremely cold temperatures halt the metabolism of the embryos.
How are Emrbyos Frozen?
It is unknown how long they can survive in this state, but twins frozen for 30 years were born in 2022. The long-term health effects of decades of freezing at the embryonic stage of development are something scientists will be investigating. There is a newer procedure called vitrification that flash-freezes human embryos by immersing them in liquid nitrogen. Technicians replace the water in the small number of cells composing the embryo with a special protectant fluid that seeks to prevent the formation of ice crystals that can harm or kill these tiny human beings. Johns Hopkins Medicine claims that their improved process leads to over 95% of the embryos surviving freezing and thawing.
Although the largely unregulated nature of the US IVF industry makes it impossible to know exactly how many embryos are currently being cryopreserved in America, estimates range from the high hundreds of thousands to over a million with thousands more added every year. Catholics cannot fail to be horrified by this massive injustice and crime against the human dignity of our smallest and most vulnerable brothers and sisters. Pope St. John Paul II appealed to the consciences of scientists and legislators to stop the production and freezing of human embryos in a 1996 address to a colloquium on canon law.
What is Embryo Adoption?
The magnitude of the growing problem has led to further ethical and theological reflection by the Magisterium of the Church and pro-life initiatives. Practically speaking, when couples began to “adopt” abandoned frozen embryos new institutions sprang up to assist with what are often called “snowflake babies.” Most of these organizations were founded by Evangelical Christians. This has led to the births of perhaps two thousand babies from previously frozen embryos made available for adoption. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded to this practice and several related questions in its Instruction Dignitas Personae in 2008.
The proposal that these embryos could be put at the disposal of infertile couples as a treatment for infertility is not ethically acceptable for the same reasons which make artificial heterologous procreation illicit as well as any form of surrogate motherhood; [38] this practice would also lead to other problems of a medical, psychological and legal nature.
It has also been proposed, solely in order to allow human beings to be born who are otherwise condemned to destruction, that there could be a form of “prenatal adoption”. This proposal, praiseworthy with regard to the intention of respecting and defending human life, presents however various problems not dissimilar to those mentioned above.
Is Embryo Adoption Morally Justifiable?
All things considered, it needs to be recognized that the thousands of abandoned embryos represent a situation of injustice which in fact cannot be resolved. Therefore John Paul II made an “appeal to the conscience of the world’s scientific authorities and in particular to doctors, that the production of human embryos be halted, taking into account that there seems to be no morally licit solution regarding the human destiny of the thousands and thousands of ‘frozen’ embryos which are and remain the subjects of essential rights and should therefore be protected by law as human persons”.
These three paragraphs in Dignitas Personae clarify that embryo adoption cannot be ethically done as a treatment for infertility. It also praised the good intentions of pro-lifers who want to save the lives of frozen embryos but noted ethical objections to embryo adoption similar to those expressed against heterologous artificial procreation and surrogacy. The conclusion was not, however, a final explicit condemnation or approval of embryo adoption for altruistic purposes, and the debate continued.
The Debate is Ongoing
The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) saw the importance of this bioethical discussion among Catholics and published an important book on the topic with essays for and against embryo adoption by faithful Catholic scholars. In the years since, the topic of embryo adoption would come up regularly when we held our “Stump the Ethicists” question and answer period with students in the NCBC’s National Catholic Certification Program in Health Care Ethics. The NCBC takes no official position in this debate at present, and we are fostering further dialogue with a second volume on human embryo adoption with different scholarly opinions on the question that should be published later in 2025. In keeping with the unsettled nature of this debate, the opposing sides have been offered equal space to defend their views.
As is always the case with bioethical issues that have not been fully resolved by the Magisterium, Catholics have a duty to form their consciences using the guidance available from the Church and prayerfully discern what actions or position they will take. Embryo adoption raises major questions regarding how far one should go in protecting the right to life, the nature of the marital covenant, and sexuality. The debate has been fruitful in exploring what responses the incredible dignity of the human person elicits in the extremely unjust situation of frozen human embryos.
Read the original article on the question of embryo adoption here.
Joseph Meaney, PhD, KM
Joseph Meaney received his PhD in bioethics from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. His doctoral program was founded by the late Elio Cardinal Sgreccia and linked to the medical school and Gemelli teaching hospital. His dissertation topic was Conscience and Health Care: A Bioethical Analysis. Dr. Meaney earned his master’s in Latin American studies, focusing on healthcare in Guatemala, from the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated from the University of Dallas with a BA in history and a concentration in international studies. The Benedict XVI Catholic University in Trujillo, Peru, awarded Dr. Meaney an honorary visiting professorship. The University of Dallas bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters in 2022.
Read the last Lessons in Catholic Bioethics post here
