Q. 1. What does the Catholic Church teach about artificial insemination? Is it allowed?

A. 1. There are two paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that make reference to artificial insemination. These are:

# 2375 "Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged, on condition that it is placed 'at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God.' [CDF, Donum vitae intro., 2]

# 2376 "Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses' 'right to become a father and a mother only through each other.' [CDF, Donum vitae II, 1]