Assisted pregnancy: Navigating the Secret Struggle Between Faith and Fertility Science Among Nigerian Christians – Part II
By Julius Nsikak
What Nigerian Churches Teach About IVF, Surrogacy and Infertility
While medical experts continue to frame infertility primarily as a reproductive health challenge, religious beliefs remain a powerful influence on how many Nigerian couples interpret childlessness and evaluate fertility treatment options. To understand how faith shapes attitudes towards assisted reproductive technologies, this investigation examined perspectives from three major Christian traditions in Nigeria: the Presbyterian Church, the Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church. Together, these denominations represent distinct theological approaches to infertility, IVF, surrogacy and the relationship between faith and modern reproductive medicine.
What the Presbyterian Church Enquiry Reveals
While medical science continues to advance reproductive options for couples experiencing infertility, some church leaders argue that the emotional and spiritual dimensions of childlessness remain inadequately addressed within many Christian communities. Speaking on the social and psychological impacts of infertility, Reverend Choice Ebere of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Trinity Parish, Okwuta, Umuahia in Abia State, said churches should become safe spaces for couples facing reproductive challenges rather than environments that deepen emotional suffering.
“Churches should not deepen the pain of infertilecouples through silence, judgement, orstigmatisation. The church must provide pastoralcare, emotional support, and proper guidance thatallow couples to make informed decisions“, he said. Ebere‘s position aligns with findings from his 2025academic study entitled, “The Role of the Church in Addressing the Challenges of Infertility among Christian Couples in the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Calabar Presbytery”.
The study examined infertility not merely as a reproductive challenge but also as a psychosocial and spiritual issue affecting Christian families. According to the research, infertility is medically defined as the inability of a couple to achieve conception after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.
The findings revealed that many Christian couples struggling with infertility receive little psychological, emotional, or practical support from their churches despite the significant burden associated with childlessness. The study recommended the initiation of awareness programmes, support groups, and counseling services capable of educating couples about both spiritual coping mechanisms and available medical interventions.
“Infertility should never become grounds for abuse, divorce or polygamy because marriage extends beyond procreation to companionship and mutual commitment,” the study stated.
The research further emphasised the importance of joint fertility investigations rather than placing blame solely on women.
According to cited research literature, male infertility may result from low sperm count, hormonal deficiencies, sexually transmitted infections, and erectile dysfunction; while female infertility may arise from blocked fallopian tubes, hormonal imbalance, ovulatory disorders, and cervical abnormalities. The findings reinforce growing medical and social arguments that infertility should be approached as a shared reproductive health challenge rather than a basis for stigma, blame, or exclusion.
The Apostolic Church Perspective
Some church leaders advocate greater openness towards fertility science, but others remain cautious about certain forms of assisted reproduction. Pastor Imo Udosen of the Apostolic Church of Nigeria, currently serving as District Pastor of Aka District, Uyo Field, acknowledged infertility as a painful reality for many Christian families but stressed the importance of maintaining Biblical principles.
According to him, the church traditionally approaches infertility through the concept of barrenness rather than the modern medicalterminology commonly used today. “The word infertility is largely a medical expression. Within church circles, the more familiar term is barrenness. From the Biblical perspective, God commanded humanity to be fruitful and multiply. Fruitfulness is therefore seen as part of God‘s original design for mankind,” he said.
Referencing passages in Genesis and Exodus, Udosen argued that children were regarded within Christian theology as blessings from God and symbols of continuity and inheritance. However, he cautioned against condemning people who are experiencing infertility. “Children are gifts from Godand believers must continue to trust in divine intervention. At the same time, the church must avoid increasing the pain of those already facing emotional challenges because of infertility,” he said.
The pastor also acknowledged that some reproductive technologies generate ethical concerns among believers, particularly where third–party involvement is introduced through sperm donation, egg donation, or surrogacy. Nevertheless, he expressed the fears surrounding assisted reproduction may be driven more by culture than by explicit church doctrine.
According to him, concerns about bloodlines, inheritance, and legitimacy often influenced attitudestowards surrogacy more strongly than theologyitself. He illustrated this by referring to traditionalcommunities where questions may arise regarding inheritance rights or succession when a child is bornthrough assisted reproductive means. “The churchgenerally does not interfere in such personal matters.What the church does is offer prayers, spiritualguidance, and blessings when families bring their children for dedication,” he said.
Udosen warned however, that churches must balancecompassion with doctrinal convictions whileensuring that vulnerable couples were not exploitedfinancially or spiritually in their search for children. His comments reflected broader tensions withinmany Pentecostal and evangelical circles where infertility was often approached through prayer, fasting and spiritual counselling before medicalintervention is considered.
The Catholic Church Stance on IVF and Surrogacy
Perhaps no Christian denomination has articulated amore detailed position on assisted reproduction thanthe Catholic Church. Speaking on the Church‘s position, Reverend Father Edidiong Ekefre, Parish Priest of St Michael Catholic Church, Nsukara Offot,and Director of History and Religious Studies atAkwa Ibom State University, said the Catholic Church does not oppose scientific advancement itself but insists that scientific progress must operate within moral boundaries.
According to him, the Church has historicallycontributed to healthcare, education, and medicalresearch through hospitals, universities, andcharitable institutions across the world. “The Churchbelieves in science with morality and science withconscience,” he said.
Fr. Ekefre explained that while IVF represented aremarkable scientific achievement, Catholic doctrine considered the process morally problematic because conception occurs outside the marital act betweenhusband and wife. According to him, Catholic teaching holds that procreation should remain inseparable from marital intimacy.
Quoting from Donum Vitae, the Vatican documentissued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of theFaith in 1987, the Priest stated that the Churchregarded IVF as contrary to the dignity ofprocreation and the conjugal union. “The Churchteaches that children should be received as giftsrather than produced through technological processes that separate conception from marital intimacy,” he said.
Fr. Ekefre further explained that Catholic objectionsextended beyond the location of fertilisation toconcerns surrounding the creation, freezing,selection, and destruction of embryos. According toCatholic teaching, embryos possess inherent humandignity from the earliest stages of development andshould therefore be afforded moral protection. “The document clearly states that embryos obtained in vitro are human beings and subjects with rightswhose dignity must be respected from the firstmoment of existence,” he said.
He argued that many IVF procedures involve thecreation of multiple embryos, some of which maylater be discarded, frozen indefinitely or subjected to experimentation. The Church regards such practicesas morally unacceptable. Ekefre also expressedCatholic opposition to donor sperm, donor eggs and surrogacy.
According, to him, introducing a third party into thereproductive process undermined the exclusivity ofmarriage and complicated the questions ofparenthood and family identity. He noted that theChurch viewed surrogacy as inconsistent with responsible motherhood and conjugal fidelity.
Despite these objections, Fr. Ekefre acknowledgedthat the Church cannot police private reproductivedecisions. “The Church provides ethical guidancebased on Christian doctrine, but personal decisionsultimately remain matters of individual conscience before God,” he said.
Addressing widespread misconceptions, the priestemphasised that infertility affected both men andwomen. “A man may have low sperm count, erectile dysfunction or other reproductive conditions thatprevent conception. It is ignorance to place the blame entirely on women,” he said.
He also criticised the growing tendency of desperatecouples to seek solutions from unregulated spiritualcentres and self–proclaimed miracle workers. “When people become desperate, some are led into practicesthat are not consistent with Christianity or sound medical advice,” he said.
Instead, he advocated a combination of ethicalmedical treatment, counselling, prayer, and pastoralsupport. The priest further encouraged adoption as a socially responsible and morally acceptable alternative for couples unable to have biological children.
“Children should not be viewed merely as products of biological reproduction. There are many children in need of love, care, and families,” he said.
Synthesis: Where Faith, Medicine and Experience Intersect
Across Catholic, Apostolic, and Presbyterianinterpretations, infertility is framed variously as amoral question, a spiritual battle, or a medicalcondition requiring intervention. Yet, as the livedexperiences of religious leaders demonstrate, these categories often overlap in practice.
What emerges is not a uniform doctrine but a complex human reality, where belief systems, medical science, and personal suffering intersect, sometimes in harmony and other times in tension, leaving many couples navigating a deeply private journey shaped by both faith and science.
Coming in Part 3: Beyond faith and medicine lies another battle; one of law, ethics and regulation. The concluding part of this investigation examines the legal uncertainties surrounding Nigeria’s growing fertility industry and why experts say comprehensive reforms can no longer be delayed.