Judgments

As I was watching some IVF videos today, I did something stupid… really stupid. I looked at the comments on the videos.  Sometimes I think that the most ignorant people alive are the ones that post in the comments of any video, news story, article, etc. After reading some posts, I can say the following:

I am not trying to “play god” by going through the invitro fertilization process. I’m not trying to create something that is unnatural or without flaw. My husband and I want a family. We want a family that has a little bit of me and a little bit of him within them. We want to raise a family of strong, loving, open-minded and intelligent people.  It is not God’s decision what I do with my life and my body… it is mine.  So, again, I’m not trying to play any role. I’m just trying to live the life I want to live while I’m on this earth.

I do not believe that we are “egotistical and selfish”. I know that the world will be a better place when the child that we’ve created is born.  However, I don’t believe this because we are full of ourselves, I believe this because our child won’t be raised to judge others. Our child will be raised to love and accept others and their decisions… whether they agree with them or not. Our child won’t be raised to believe that there is only one way… there is only one religion… there is only one truth. Everyone has the right to his or her own beliefs and our child will learn to respect that. If wanting to create a better world and share our love with a child is egotistical and selfish, then I’ll have to start taking those as compliments.

One person’s comments were very heavily influenced by the Catholic church. While I was confident that I already knew the church’s stance on IVF, I felt the need to do a little researching. Sure enough, my inferences were correct. The Catholic church believes that what Dennis and I are doing is wrong. I’m not going to go into detail about everything that was said about my moral judgement and character, but I will tell you to investigate for yourself if you are interested. It’s disappointing to be raised a certain way only to grow up and realize you and your religion strongly disagree on many, many issues.  I was raised Catholic and for a long time I continued to claim that Catholicism was my religion. I was driven away from the religion a few years ago based upon how many beliefs of the church’s differ from my own, but now I feel like they drove me a way, slammed the door behind me and locked it up tight. 

I hope no one takes this the wrong way. I am not trying to slam Catholics or those who believe in the church and its teachings. I know there are many practicing Catholics that are loving, supportive, intelligent, amazing people. This is not meant to disrespect them or take away from their beliefs. I’m just responding to the way people judge others. Hmmm... someone judging someone based on moral decisions and values… THAT sounds like someone who is trying to “play god”.

My spirituality and my beliefs are my own. They may not coincide with a specific religipn or may not have specific rules, but I believe they are strong and come from faith and love… two incredibly powerful things.

I will not feel guilty about our decisions.  I will not let the narrow-minded and judgmental people in this world bring down our hopes and dreams.  

All you need is love. Love is all you need.