In Tanzania, there is an increased demand for test tube babies scientifically refered to as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).
It is a service sought by couples that are unable to naturally get pregnant.
Last week we had reported that over 80% Tanzanian men are unable to impregnate a woman which has forced most tanzanian females across Kenya seeking artificial means to enable and or enhance pregnancy at fertility clinics.
Now this has taken a new twist. Tanzanian religious leaders have comeout strongly and condemned the artificial acts and practices of making babies through ‘test tubes’ which they say is against the will of God.
They said In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technology was wrong because according to the Creator, a child should be obtained through an act of sex between husband and wife.
The bishop of Africa Inland Church, Peter Kitula says that the procedure is not recommended in the Christian faith since people are married to reproduce themselves by way of consummating their marriage and not through some artificial processes.
“This is well understood and we preach it persistently, that a child must be a result of the sex act between husband and wife, who have been joined in a holy matrimony.”
He said women should shun the IVF alternative even after failing get a child naturally “since everything that happens to us is part God’s plan.”
“If the Almighty God has not blessed you with a child, you should simply accept the situation because that would be a test to your perseverance… you must keep on praying,” he advised.
Commenting on the matter, an expert in Biblical Language and Interpretation at Bugema University, Professor Reuben Mugerwa, said there is the concern that a test tube baby may not receive warm love from parents, having not been conceived naturally.
Prof Mugerwa said: “God intended sexual intercourse to be the only avenue of bringing forth children because of the intense love couples experience in the process of making a child in a natural way.”
Sheikh Musa Kundecha of Dar es Salaam noted that under Islam, the method would be alright if a couple were confirmed unable to get a baby naturally.
He said it would be a sin if a couple would opt the method while they were capable of obtaining a child through sex.
“We consider a baby obtained through the test tube while a couple is still biologically capable of naturally reproducing as haram (unclean),” he said.
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