There is a popular television program in the U.K. called Who Do You Think You Are?. Each episode follows a celebrity who, with the help of specialists, traces their family tree and discovers who their ancestors were. Now 23 series in, and with a wide range of public figures featured, every episode reveals a deep curiosity about origins and identity. Participants consistently express how discovering their roots reshapes their understanding of who they are. This desire to understand where we come from is universal; it is evident not only in television programs like this, but also in the vast number of genealogy organisations that help people trace their family lines back through history. Our heritage and biology are not insignificant. They root us, connect us to the past, and place us within a broader family context.

Fertility technologies have introduced a profound crisis into the modern world, the full implications of which we are only beginning to realise. For the first time in human history, children can be conceived apart from sexual intercourse. We have dissected the process of conception, pulling it apart into individual components and manipulating them to construct a new reality. In doing so, children are pulled out of their genetic context and placed into totally new environments, all while being told that this is their family.

Of course, some children conceived through IVF are born to their biological parents and raised in their natural families. This is the idealised picture usually presented to the public: a solution for couples struggling with infertility to build the family they desire. Yet this represents only one aspect of modern fertility technology. Countless babies are now born to same-sex couples or single parents through processes involving donors and surrogate mothers, artificially constructing a family, where natural biology cannot support it. A collective lie is told by society to these children in order to satisfy the desires of adults, resulting in a culture built on false realities. The consequences, I believe, are catastrophic:

Firstly, this process creates biological isolation. Many individuals grow up unable to access their genetic roots, biological heritage, or true ancestry. They are left isolated with deep questions about their identity and origins, and in some cases, without any pathway to find the answers they seek.

Secondly, fertility technologies turn children into commodities that can be purchased. When children are produced through commercial processes, donor selection, and surrogate contracts, they cease to be viewed purely as gifts from God and instead become products that can be acquired. While this does not capture the intent of every individual parent, the underlying principle remains: children have been reduced to commercial goods. Closely tied to this is the continuous degradation of the sanctity of human life. When we engineer babies in a lab – creating, freezing, and discarding human embryos at such a large scale – society forgets that each one is an image-bearer of God, not raw material to be manipulated at will.

Furthermore, these technologies systematically erode the biblical model of marriage between one man and one woman. When sexual intercourse is severed from reproduction, the foundational structures of human society, essential for the flourishing of both parents and children, are gradually chipped away in our thinking. The very fabric of human society is unravelled and is no longer seen as necessary. 

Equally concerning are the frequent news reports exposing the questionable practices of IVF clinics and fertility doctors. Parents sometimes question the identity of the child they are raising because the child does not match the profile of the paid donor. In other instances, doctors have used their own genetic material to father dozens of children, or lab mix-ups have resulted in parents receiving the wrong baby entirely. The irony is obvious: severe distress arises when these errors occur, yet the technology itself fundamentally relies on diminishing or denying the significance of biological origin. Genetic heritage only seems to matter when it impacts the adults involved; virtually no consideration is given to the child. And even when consideration is given to a child’s ability to discover their biological heritage, the significance of this is often trivialised. 

Scripture presents a starkly different framework for marriage, family, conception, and parenthood. The opening chapters of Genesis clearly establish God’s intended design for these foundational pillars of human life. Marriage was ordained as the lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, within which children are conceived through sexual intercourse, providing a secure and stable foundation for both parents and children. God established this pattern for our flourishing.

Family lineage is likewise a central theme throughout the Bible. Genealogies recur repeatedly across Scripture, reaching their pinnacle in the line of the Messiah. Biological descent was never a minor detail; it was integral to the covenantal promises given to Abraham and ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, born of a woman. It was specifically through Isaac, the son of promise, that this covenant was established. While the spiritual promise extends to non-Jewish believers who put their faith in Christ, making them sons of Abraham, this language of biological inheritance remains intentional and deeply meaningful.

The biblical emphasis on lineage demonstrates that human beings were designed to be deeply rooted in their biological and cultural origins. It also exposes the strategies used to undermine marriage and family. Satan’s persistent scheme is to take God’s good gifts and distort, dismantle, and destroy them. Reproductive technologies that artificially construct human life represent a direct attempt to usurp God’s authority over creation, much like the building of the Tower of Babel. But most concerning of all is the response within the Church, where many Christians defend these technologies without evaluating the underlying principles and practices behind them. We have lost sight not only of God as our Creator, but also of our fundamental obligation to submit our lives and desires to His sovereign will, recognising that He alone has the authority to ordain the days of our lives.