New Book: IVF is Not the Way

Sorry! I got majorly sidetracked but for a good reason.

In December, I had every intention of writing about the problems with Eucharistic miracle investigations, and I still plan to do so. In fact, I have met a number of people interested in this project who are helping to get the word out and a few who might put some energy into forming that team I mentioned to re-investigate existing alleged miracles. I have spoken to someone in Europe who may have some information a major criticism that I levied in Behold, It Is I. (Sorry to be so ambiguous, but I must for now.) And I have been invited to present on a panel at this year’s Fellowship of Catholic Scholars conference on “The Eucharist in Faith and Culture” in the Washington D.C. area. So, I am not done with that project, but it had to be put on hold.

Most of my writing had to be put on hold so I could focus entirely on a new book. The book is title, IVF is Not the Way: The False Promises of Artificial Procreation.

You’re always going to get the backstory here. It happened because a new Senior Acquisitions Editor for Sophia Institute Press, Heidi Saxton, whom I have known and admired for years, asked me about writing another book. Turns out, I already owed Sophia Institute a book because I signed a contract a few years ago but never finished the book. It was about fetal tissue research using aborted children. I have been collecting scientific reports of the ways these corpses are used in laboratories for the past ten years. However, about the time I started to compile the research into the book, my daughter gave birth to a premature precious baby boy named Amias who only survived 11 days and died in her arms. Amias was only 28 weeks along, the same age as many of the discarded babies I was writing about in that book, and I could not continue.

Heidi and Sophia’s leadership suggested last December that I instead write a book about the Church’s teaching on IVF since then President-elect Donald Trump promised to reconsider funding for IVF in our nation. Once he was elected, we knew the issue would become an active one in the public square. In my work, I have also followed the ways human embryos are used in research. Since IVF is the source of these embryos donated to science, I know a lot about this topic from a bioethics point of view. The Church’s argument against IVF is deep and requires premises ranging from “God exists” to “children are gifts.” It is a very sensitive issue that crosses from science into philosophy and theology.

I turned in the completed manuscript at the beginning of February, and I am now in the editing phase. Sophia Institute aims to get the book out by May. I plan to read it aloud for an audio (Audible) version. I have already done several radio interviews on this topic. I actually love that the nation is talking about IVF now thanks to President Trump’s executive order to expand access to it, which I am obviously strongly against. I think the conversation is important because it leads us all to examine what it means to be human.

• Here is an article I wrote for Crisis Magazine, “Catholics: First and Final Defense Against IVF - Crisis Magazine.”

• Here is the pre-order page on Amazon for the book: IVF is Not the Way: The False Promises of Artificial Procreation.

• And here is a radio interview I did on The Drew Mariani Show: The Church's Teaching on IVF. There are some good questions from callers.

In other news, I returned to Ireland in January to continue my work on the D.Phil. in Philosophy at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University focusing on elements, adjusting my dissertation timeline to accommodate this IVF book. I also have an exciting project going on at Holy Apostles related to education that I can’t mention yet. I gave a talk to 600+ high school students in South Carolina about the compatibility of faith and science, and last week I spoke to about 90 scientists at Owens Corning about the same topic. Best of all, I just returned from BELIZE with my husband because we had plans for a just-the-two-of-us vacation that was not getting put on hold for anything! We stayed on a sustainable farm in the mountains near Hopkins. I wrote one paper while there on sustainability. It was a joy to write, and I needed something to do while staring out at the Carribean ocean from the mountaintop where we were lounging by the pool all those lazy afternoons. It was glorious. I’m happy to report that paper was accepted for publication at the Theology and Science journal for a special issue on stewardship.

Thank you for staying with me here. I have done a lot of writing, but it was all on projects I could not share yet. I actually broke a keyboard from typing so much and had to buy a new one! As I always say when people ask what I do, “I’m just living my best life.” I’m happy when I’ve got a lot to write about.

God bless you and all your atoms,
Stacy