THE FROZEN embryo method, involving the implantation of a frozen human embryo in a womb after in vitro fertilization, was condemned in a recent editorial in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
The editorial said the method involves masturbation and artificial insemination of humans, activities previously condemned by the Church. In vitro fertilization involves removing eggs and fertilizing them in a laboratory.
The editorial commented on the birth in Australia of Baby Zoe, the world's first frozen embryo baby, and was written by Franciscan Fr Gino Concetti, a theologian who writes frequently in L 'Osservatore
Romano.
'We understand sterile couples' desire to have children, but it must be stressed that not everything one desires is right and not even scientific progress can make it so," said the editorial.
"What matters most is not that a child is obtained, but that it is obtained in a human manner," it added. "Can the end alone justify an act, masturbation, which in any case is considered illicit by Catholic morality?" said the editorial.
Meanwhile, researchers in Melbourne, Australia, responsible for the frozen embryo birth said they will begin impregnating other women with donated frozen embryos.