By Meredith (a relatively newly converted Unitarian Universalist and mother to a 3 month old son)
My biggest fear in bringing my son to the type of church that I grew up in is that someone would tell him his Mommy is going to hell because of him. They wouldn’t say it quite that way, but I intentionally chose to have a child out of wedlock. Not only that, I dared to use IVF. Depending on your particular denomination that makes me a double sinner and I’m not asking God for forgiveness. I’m thanking all that is Holy that I succeeded in having my beautiful son.
The truth is that nothing I did in conceiving and carrying my son is against the doctrine of the church I grew up in. However, Christians who grew up in other denominations like to attend that church and honestly don’t know any better. They are prone to assume that because it’s a Christian church that it looks down on procreation outside of marriage and possibly on creating embryos/killing embryos as happens in IVF.
My biggest fear in bringing my son to the type of church that I grew up in is that someone would tell him his Mommy is going to hell because of him. They wouldn’t say it quite that way, but I intentionally chose to have a child out of wedlock. Not only that, I dared to use IVF. Depending on your particular denomination that makes me a double sinner and I’m not asking God for forgiveness. I’m thanking all that is Holy that I succeeded in having my beautiful son.
The truth is that nothing I did in conceiving and carrying my son is against the doctrine of the church I grew up in. However, Christians who grew up in other denominations like to attend that church and honestly don’t know any better. They are prone to assume that because it’s a Christian church that it looks down on procreation outside of marriage and possibly on creating embryos/killing embryos as happens in IVF.