This article presents the principal Church teachings regarding in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since the birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first “test-tube” baby in 1978, around eight million IVF babies have been born. The Magisterium has pronounced her main teachings on IVF in Donum Vitae (1987), Evangelium Vitae (1995), and Dignitas Personae (2008). The Church says “no” to IVF due to the massive destruction of embryonic life, the assault on the meaning of the conjugal act and the treatment of the child as a product not a gift. She continues to announce a loud “yes” to life, endeavoring to take care of the human embryo, the least of our brothers and sisters (see Matthew 25:40).
