I am in a hurry (have a Dr. appt) so comments to come but I ran across this article this morning. . .why does everyone in this country think others should align to their belief? So annoying!! I am sure you can pick out which sentence really irked me in this.
Jennifer Lopez stars in the upcoming movie "The Back-Up Plan" about a woman who conceives twins using artificial insemination.
But Lopez told Elle magazine in their February issue that she decided to forgo in vitro fertilization treatments while trying to get pregnant herself.
“I … believe in God and I have a lot of faith in that, so I just felt like you don’t mess with things like that,” she told Elle. “And I guess deep down I really felt like either this is not going to happen for me or it is. You know what I mean? And if it is, it will. And if it’s not, it’s not going to.”
Lopez, 40, ended up having fraternal twins Emme and Max in 2008 through natural methods.
However the pop princess’s opinion that IVF is “messing” with God has irked some who underwent IVF to have children.
“She’s saying that if you deal with fertility issues then it’s because God doesn’t want you to have children and that’s offensive. In reality, if God didn’t want you to have kids then he wouldn’t have these opportunities available,” Jennifer Katz, who underwent IVF treatment in 2007, told Pop Tarts. “It’s not ‘messing’ or intruding in God’s plan, you go after things in life that you want and don’t sit back and wait for things to happen. God helps those who help themselves.”
Jerome Ballard, whose wife had IVF, said their decision to turn to reproductive assistance only made their faith stronger. “I am Catholic, but I believe in life if you want something, you have to make it happen yourself regardless of whether you believe in God,” he said. “We had faith in what we were doing, and IVF was there to help us.”
Numerous blogs have also attacked Lopez over her comments. However, two IVF proponents contacted by Pop Tarts stand by Lopez’s right to her opinion and principles.
“I can't speak about her personal choices, but I think that we live in an era of reproductive freedom and everybody is welcome to reproduce in whatever way they wish,” fertility specialist Arthur Wisot of Reproductive Partners in Southern California told Tarts. “If (Jennifer Lopez) isn't accepting it, then it may impair her ability to have children in the future, but it's based on her own moral and ethical principles.”
The American Fertility Association also stood by the starlet.
"[Jennifer Lopez] has stated that she would never consider in-vitro fertilization as an option since she is a traditionalist,” an AFA rep said. “We at the American Fertility Association, support Jennifer Lopez's right to not use in-vitro fertilization or any other form of assisted reproduction in the creation of her family, just as we also support another person's right to use this same technology."
A rep for Lopez did not respond for comment.
11 people are laughing with me:
Is there an emoticon for eye-rolling?
I got almost eaten alive by posting about Jon and Kate a long time ago . . . an old friend used the same method of John and Kate . . . and I only said "they used an unnatural method" to conceive (washing his sperm, injecting into wife). Mind, her response was lacking in charity but my response was worse! I deleted everything so that if I ever post on this topic again, I'll be more charitable and very clear. I'm sure some will still find offense.
As a Catholic, we know exactly what went wrong here: masturbation, for starters; not having intercourse to conceive in love, second. Of course, this pisses people off. I'm not telling folks the kids they get with lab help aren't any more/less loved or wanted than ones conceived by the God standard (or, the natural way, irregardless of beliefs). But, the less/more loved thing is what they hear. They think they aren't wrong in their pursuit to have a baby. There's so much wrong with it, it's embarrassingly obvious. But no one today wants to be told they can't have something they want - or that they have to have what they don't want. Period.
Kudos to JLo.
BTW, these people do know that it's okay for a Catholic to take fertility pills to help, right?
Sarah - Kala: When I was a little kid, I'd hear people say things like you said about artificial insemination, and then I'd go cry because I thought Jesus didn't want me to be born. I'm sorry you think that my entire existence has so much wrong with it, it's embarrassingly obvious.
WOW!!! That is all I can say.
jennifer lopez a traditionalist, eh?
there were many things that irk me about this article. but i am going to be charitable and not say which ones....
uh - hmmmmm... i'm eye-rolling, too. Kind of several levels of eye-rolling. Come back and share... you aren't STILL at the doctor's office are you??
PS - I like the new "look" around here!!
Marauder,
It isn't really fair to read things into what Sarah-Kala said that are not actually there.
Understanding the Church's teaching on the inherent dignity and rights of a child is only a protective and loving boundary for new human beings; it is not a statement against those who have been conceived otherwise.
It is about understanding the way God meant for us all to come into the world and thrive best.
To acknowledge, for example, that divorce is not the way that God intended for children to be raised and loved is not equitable to saying that children of divorce (or their parents) were never intended by God to be part of His plan of salvation.
Thanks be to God's mercy for confession and recourse to penance and full grace. It is available to all, including those who conceive others in sin.
And such a sin is also tempered by the ignorance and free will involved. Only God can weigh that.
It has nothing to do with the children, and the Church (as well as Sarah) are not saying otherwise.
If she's wording it awkwardly, it would be best to take the time to instruct her. But in this case, there seems to be a lack of knowledge on your part that seems to be encouraging you to read inaccurately between the lines.
Please consider googling The Catechism of the Catholic Church on-line to fully understand what Sarah may be expecting knowlegeable Catholics to know.
M - I wasn't invalidating your existence or your right to be here. In fact, I champion for your life as well as life for all. I think you misunderstood me. And, thank you to TweenLitCrit for explaining more clearly the meaning I meant via the teachings of the Catholic Church.
btw, I would be remiss if anyone ever overheard me (esp. a child) speaking about this subject . . . I would never speak about it with children around.
well said teen lit crit
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