Leftovers: Embryos Turned Into Jewelry

"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought best." Judges 21:25 (NAB)

The modern world seems to be operating like we were still in the time of Judges 21. Fewer and fewer people attend church regularly, fewer still read the Bible regularly, and more and more people are left to figure things out for themselves, particularly when it comes to sticky ethical issues. Left to their own devices, the things folks come up with can be frightening. 

Now I have been totally creeped-out. An Australian company is making jewelry out of unused embryos. These are the extra in-vitro fertilized embryos that were to be implanted if earlier attempts at pregnancy were unsuccessful. What to do with these embryos has always been an ethical issue with the whole in-vitro deal. I do not know the belief system that the following person is operating under, but I assume this is not something the Church would teach. Here is her rationale, 

“Donating our embryos wasn’t an option for us and I couldn’t justify the yearly storage fee."
“I’d heard others had planted them in the garden but we move a lot, so I couldn’t do this."
“I needed them with me.”
“My embryos were my babies - frozen in time."
“When we completed our family, it wasn’t in my heart to destroy them."
“Now they are forever with me in a beautiful keepsake.”

If it were me, donation of the embryos to another couple might be the only option that I can think of that I would be able to live with.

Donation for research would be unacceptable.

Planting them in the garden or turning them into jewelry are just two different ways of destroying them.

Wearing them around my neck is just plain creepy.