About the Faith and Fertility Project 

The Faith and Fertility project is a qualitative research project that explores the roles of personal faith and faith communities in Christian couples’ decision-making when experiencing infertility, more specifically, on assisted reproductive technology (ART) use.

Previous research has concluded that there is significant discussion about the ethical use of ARTs in the academic fields of science, medicine, philosophy, and theology. Religious groups and Christian church leaders have also participated in the conversation regarding the appropriateness of ARTs for their communities,  even releasing official statements intended for behavioral guidance and direction. However, it was unclear at the beginning of the project, the extent to which persons of the Christian faith are aware of,  and/or acknowledge the authority of, such discussions and guidelines provided from the academic and religious communities. Also, print and online material directed at individuals seeking or considering ART tend to focus on technical information about diagnosis, treatment, cost, and providing emotional support through what is an incredibly difficult journey. However, these resources directed at emotional support are rarely, if not never offered from a Christian context.

When couples turn to medicine for assistance in having a family, they are thrown into a complex, technical world that involves disruptive, invasive and often painful procedures that are challenging physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Couples quickly face choices about what procedures to undergo, how long to persist with treatment. and how to handle the hefty cost of ARTs. Decisions regarding ART use as a means of treatment are unique from other medical ethics decisions because infertility is neither a disease or a violation of basic human rights. Our research has found that infertility experts generally ignore the larger context of ART use and instead focus on the likelihood of successful pregnancy and live birth, forcing couples to look to other places for guidance about the implications of their choices. But do they?

There is a gap in the scientific literature on ART. Explorations of the influences the greater ethical/theological discourse have on couples personal decision making are missing or greatly scarce. So, are the discussions in the academic and faith communities useful to couples looking for guidance in regards to ART use? The Research Question we asked was “Do couples dealing with infertility gain meaningful and constructive guidance about ART decisions from their faith communities?  What roles does their faith play in their decision-making?”

From our current research, we have found that there is a significant lack of accessible and relevant,  online, Christian, support resources that offer Canadian couples guidance and support through the difficult experiences of infertility. faithandfertility.wordpress.com was created to create an online support community for those struggling with infertility, and to provide further resources for both couples and clergy.