Discuss

I am going to tell you right now that this is a touchy subject. I read this article today about twin reduction- aborting one twin because while you want to be pregnant, you only want to come out with one baby, not two. The whole concept gave me chills, even though I've always said quite honestly that the idea of carrying, and then caring for, twins terrifies me. But the article was extremely thought provoking, touching on lots of the blurry ethical lines being crossed ever since reproduction stopped being seen as a mysterious act of God and became something very much within our own hands, provided we have the money and determination.

While I can say without doubt that I would never reduce a twin pregnancy simply because twins are not my ideal, I have much less idea of what I would do with, say, the option of IVF. Is the whole thing creepy and against nature? Or a marvelous gift- even a miracle- for those otherwise infertile? What do you do with leftover embryos? Do you only implant one at a time so that you don't chance a risky multiple pregnancy, even though then your odds of conceiving at all might go down? There are so many questions, and I guess I'm just very thankful this is a bridge we never had to cross. Though I suppose really you could say that my use of Clomid to help conceive Eli, or our use of ultrasound to check on our fetus's health, not to mention the option of amnios or other prenatal screenings- all of these are playing God to a certain extent too, aren't they?

What do you all think of fertility/science related issues, from birth control pills to selective reduction? Are we playing God, or is this just another medical advancement, like organ transplantation or antibiotics? How far would you go, if it seemed like your only chance to be a parent?