Infertility? IVF is not the only option.

In this episode of The Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse Show, Dr. J sits down with Emma Waters of The Heritage Foundation to discuss IVF, infertility, donor conception, surrogacy, frozen embryos, and restorative reproductive medicine — a humane alternative that seeks to treat the underlying causes of infertility rather than ignore or bypass them.

Links and resources mentioned:

Emma Waters at The Heritage Foundation: https://www.heritage.org/staff/emma-waters

Emma Waters, “The NYT Profiled My Butter. Here’s What It Missed About Big Fertility” https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/commentary/the-nyt-profiled-my-butter-heres-what-it-missed-about-big-fertility

Rethinking Fertility podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rethinking-fertility/id1896869323

Emma Waters on Substack: https://rethinkingfertility.substack.com/

Follow Emma Waters: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emlwaters_/ X: https://x.com/emlwaters

Natural Womanhood: https://naturalwomanhood.org/

Natural Womanhood — Find help, doctors, and fertility awareness instructors: https://naturalwomanhood.org/get-help/

International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine: https://iirrm.org/

NaProTechnology: https://naprotechnology.com/

Shiloh IVF Ministry: https://www.shilohivf.com/

National Catholic Bioethics Center — Personal Ethics Consultation: https://www.ncbcenter.org/ask-a-question

Real Estate for Life: https://realestateforlife.org/

Dr. Stacy Trasancos on IVF and Human Dignity: https://ruthinstitute.org/dr-j-show/the-truth-about-ivf-and-dignity/

First Things: “A Future for the Family: A New Technology Agenda for the Right” https://firstthings.com/a-future-for-the-family-a-new-technology-agenda-for-the-right/

Vatican document: Donum Vitae https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html

Vatican document: Dignitas Personae https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitas-personae_en.html

Dr. Morse and Emma Waters explore why so many couples are told IVF is their only option, how the fertility industry benefits from keeping people in the dark about alternatives, and why children must never be treated as products, projects, or entitlements.

They also discuss the larger cultural picture: the separation of sex, babies, and marriage; the ethics of donor conception and surrogacy; the trauma of frozen embryos; the Alabama IVF case; the question of whether anyone has a “right to a child”; and why the pro-life movement must take reproductive technology seriously.

Emma Waters is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation. Her work focuses on family, biotechnology, and reproductive medicine. She is the author of Lead Like Jael: Seven Timeless Principles for Today’s Women of Faith and the forthcoming book Rethinking Fertility: The Package Deal of Marriage, Sex, and Procreation. She is also a monthly contributor to World Magazine and host of the podcast Rethinking Fertility.

If you or someone you love is struggling with infertility, this conversation offers hope, clarity, and a different way forward.

Chapters: 0:00 Intro: infertility, IVF, and restorative reproductive medicine 0:35 Welcome Emma Waters 0:40 The New York Times, IVF, and media framing 4:35 Why alternatives to IVF are hard for elites to process 6:00 “Delay, delay, delay” — then sell a $30,000 workaround 10:04 What is restorative reproductive medicine? 13:49 Natural Womanhood and cycle literacy 18:24 Doctors, training, and the RRM movement 19:01 Why professional women are pushed toward IVF 19:52 IVF success rates and incomplete fertility statistics 26:11 Correcting the underlying condition 27:06 Who benefits from keeping people in the dark? 29:46 The fertility industry and the free market problem 35:22 Sex, babies, marriage, and the sexual revolution 44:38 Divorce ideology and the parent-child bond 45:39 Why every child should be received as a gift 46:25 Donor conception and artificial reproduction 52:02 Consumer-based eugenics 56:58 Sponsor: Real Estate for Life 57:27 IVF, identity, and the breakdown of motherhood 1:03:43 Why the fertility market depends on the state 1:05:08 IVF policy reforms at the state and federal level 1:06:21 The Restore Act and root-cause infertility care 1:18:11 The Alabama IVF case 1:19:22 Human being or medical waste? 1:20:09 Why IVF cannot be made pro-life with regulatory Band-Aids 1:23:04 Shiloh IVF Ministry and help for parents with frozen embryos 1:24:33 Viewer question: IVF and male-factor infertility 1:28:02 Is there a right to a child? 1:29:01 A child is a person, not an entitlement 1:32:18 Why the pro-life movement must address IVF 1:33:03 Where to follow Emma Waters 1:34:41 Closing

#IVF #Infertility #RestorativeReproductiveMedicine #EmmaWaters #HeritageFoundation #Catholic #Family