Many of the most difficult bioethical questions arose over the last thirty years as Australia became one of the leading centres for new “assisted reproductive technologies” (ARTs) which were originally designed to provide infertile couples with their own experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. Now the field has expanded to include any related issues including: gamete donation, IVF, embryo screening, gamete and embryo experimentation and storage and surrogacy.

For additional information see:

•  Catholics and reproductive technology
•  Longing for a Child
•  Prayer to Our Lady of Seidnaya
•  Life – A Gift Always Worth Living
• Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person) was released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in December 2008. This Vatican document about in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo experimentation is an update of a document written more than twenty years ago, Donum Vitae (1987), and seeks to address the questions raised by recent developments in biomedical research.
• Address by Pope Benedict XVI, International Conference on Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture, Clementine Hall, Saturday, 12 November 2011.
• The Moral Frontiers of Stem Cell Research

Downloadable resources sourced primarily from the Archdiocese of Melbourne Life, Marriage & Family Office and the Life Marriage & Family Centre of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.