IVF – Strength from Weakness or Weakness from Strength?

One aspect of Invitro Fertilization that raises some questions is the process of selecting which eggs and subsequently selecting which growing embryos are given the opportunity to be placed in the mothers uterus so that they might continue to grow.

A biblical precept is that God, in His wisdom chooses to use the weak to confound those who appear strong.  God brings strength out of weakness.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, it says,

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.  (1 Corinthians 1: 27-29, NKJV)

The IVF doctors, when they decide which of the eggs or growing embryos to use to try to achieve a pregnancy, have to choose, from a number of possibilities, which eggs or which embryos to use.  Do they select those eggs or embryos that seem weak or do they choose the ones they think appear to be the strongest?  It is likely that they choose the ones that they think appear the strongest and appear most likely to survive.

Is it possible, within God’s design, that the choice of man in the possess, does not achieve the best result?  To what extent, when we do the choosing, are we at risk of being responsible for problems, that would not have occurred if the choice was left up to God, as He chooses through His natural process of selecting out which egg and which embryos are given opportunity to grow?

Another biblical passage that may shed some light on this issue is 1 Samuel 16:7 where it says,

man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 17:7b)

This passage suggests that there is something more important than the physical appearance of a person.  Considering the teaching in Psalm 139:13, that God forms a person in the mothers womb, and the importance that the bible gives to the soul of a person,  are we at risk of making a bad choice when we look at the outward appearance of a growing embryo to decide which embryos will be given a chance to continue to grow by placing it in the mothers uterus?

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