Christianity and IVF

       Dear readers, I continue to introduce you to excerpts from my book "Angels drink milk". 

 Natasha's husband was an Orthodox, religious man who regularly attended Sunday services at the Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in their small provincial town. It was located on the outskirts, on the territory of an old cemetery, the interior of the Church had always been homely, there were relatively few parishioners. Natasha inwardly did not accept the Church as "the House of God on Earth", but still sometimes she went with her husband to celebrations, confessed and took communion[1]. During the decision-making period on IVF necessity Natasha went to confession to one of the priests of the Church.

    "Father, we have a difficult life situation in our family."

    "What is it, my daughter?"

    "We are diagnosed with infertility… The age is already critical…They offer a procedure of artificial insemination. There is no other option. Have you ever heard of it?"

    "As a matter of fact, yes, I heard of it. But I personally and the Russian Orthodox Church disapprove it."

    "Why?"

    "This is against the laws of God. Interference of third parties in the sacrament of Conception is inadmissible according to Canon law. If you can't give birth yourself, take the child from an orphanage and don't suffer. If God is against you having children, you will never have them!"

    Natasha shuddered at these words.

    "But we are leading a righteous life and we want to give birth to our own children and we do not want to "take on" the sins of those people who abandoned their children!"

    "I understand all this, but it is the will of God, and I am only his messenger on Earth, and I convey his words to you."

    "So you won't give your husband and me your blessing for this method of treatment?"

    "Unfortunately, no!" the priest interrupted the conversation rudely.

    Natasha, puzzled, turned and walked away from the priest, receiving neither the blessing nor the absolution of her past sins. Her legs trembled and in her resentment she could hardly speak, but she restrained herself and did not cry. She went to the icon "Theotokos of Tikhvin"[2] To the mother of God and began to pray:

    "Sacred Virgin, Tsarina Heavenly! Please tell us what I and husband should do? Should we tempt fate and achieve conception with the help of medicine or adopt someone else's baby?"

    For a second, Natasha thought she saw the mother of God lift the Baby in her arms and shown it to her. "What did that mean?" a thought flashed through her mind. Her thoughts were swirling! Wait, does it mean that the Blessed Virgin was carrying in the womb a baby that was not hers, but a child from the Father! But all her life she thought of him as of her own son! And her husband, Joseph, knew that the Child was not of his blood, but had accepted it as his own! Maybe this was a sign that Natasha needed to take a baby from an orphanage? But on the other hand, the Blessed Virgin herself carried and gave birth to a child who didn't share her blood.

    "This story is similar to a modern surrogate motherhood or a program for using donor material, may the adherents of the Russian Orthodox Church forgive me!" Natasha thought suddenly. At the moment the thought flashed in her mind, it seemed to her that Virgin Mary smiled. In a certain sense one may think that Virgin Mary in some ways was the prototype of the surrogate mother for the divine child. This thought made Natasha feel terribly awkward and ashamed, but on the other hand, she somehow found an excuse for her natural desire to give birth to her baby. There were more of these thoughts to come, and they were swirling in her head at a breakneck speed:

    "Why did Mary and Joseph have no children afterwards?"

    "Maybe they also had conceiving problems?"

    "Why didn't they ask God to give them more children?"

    "Wasn't there a problem of infertility before?"

    She felt uneasy at such thoughts as she knew that it was a blasphemy. She knelt quietly, closed her eyes, and prayed sincerely in front of the icon of a Holy Virgin for sending her the only correct solution. In one moment of the prayer, it seemed to her that an incredibly bright light had been shed upon her, as if an invisible hand had laid on her head and absolved all her sins and blessed her for incredible feats for the sake of Life. She rose from her knees, as if enlightened, and thanked the Holy Virgin and Jesus Christ from the bottom of her heart and with reverence went to the exit of the church. Her husband was waiting for her at the exit.

    "What did father Mikhail say? Did he give us his blessing for the treatment?"

    "Yes, he said that Our baby is already waiting and the Lord blesses us through him," that was Natasha's "white lie."

    Her husband trusted her words more than he trusted himself and, of course, he did not dare ask the priest again.

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[1]Confession and communion are rituals obligatory for a believing Christian in the Russian Orthodox Church.

[2]The Theotokos of Tikhvin is one of the most celebrated Orthodox Christian icons. It is said to be one of the icons written by St. Luke the Evangelist.

A new part in my book series!!

  Dear readers! I've released a new part of my book series! The third book is called "LIFE GOES ON FOREVER IN THE EYES OF OUR CHILDREN!" 

What is most important for a young lady: a happy and carefree personal life or a scientific career? Jin Ho is young and ambitious, she is studying for an internship in the United States, and there are many temptations on her life path: a rich American boyfriend who promises a "sky in diamonds", a contract for the production of nanorobots, world fame. She travels around America: Baltimore, Washington, Las Vegas, it seems that the bricks in the house called Happiness are stacked, but.... Reality brings you back to earth and makes you see the main goals and set priorities.

Have you been to cat cafe?

   Dear readers, I continue to introduce you to excerpts from my book "Angels drink milk". 

  Coming home late, the young doctor felt certain loneliness as no one was waiting for her, the apartment was too empty. After all, she was used to living with a family where caring mother, loving father and brother were waiting at home, or in a noisy student dormitory with chatty neighbors. And now she was responsible for her own modest home, health, and life. The loneliness and emptiness of the rented apartment troubled and frightened her. Once, walking in the evening in Seoul on her only day off, Jin-Ho wandered into the cat cafe, where it was allowed to pet the animals. 

Pleasant memories surfaced in her memory. She suddenly remembered a meeting in a similar cafe with a sweet-hearted friend of Gi-Hyun many years ago, at which they childishly confessed their love for each other and officially began counting down the dating days. Jin-Ho smiled to herself, her heart skipping a beat. The girl called the waiter and asked:

    "Dear friend, is it possible to take a cat from your cafe upon signing a contract of proper care?"she knew that many cafes acted as a temporary shelter for homeless animals, of course, have passed all veterinary treatment and vaccinations. Visitors could take their Pets home permanently or for a trial period.

    "Yes, most of the animals can be registered under a contract and taken home first for a trial period, and then permanently," replied the smiling young man.

    "I would like to take the oldest cat of all, it is possible with health problems or a disabled one."

    The young man was very surprised by this desire of the client. Usually, if clients wanted to take an animal, then they certainly took a young, healthy one, or even better, a kitten to raise the way they want. Elderly animals with health problems usually stayed in a cat shelter or other shelters "for life" and no one was interested in them. Maybe these cats even understood this and, despite the abundance of food and care, became sluggish, apathetic, not interested in life. As if they know that no one would love them and would never take them home. Cats, they say, also have souls…

    "Are you sure you want to take an elderly cat? After all, they can only live a few years?" the waiter looked at her in surprise.

    "Yes, I want just such a cat. I am ready to give her everything she needs!"Jin-Ho replied.

    "We have several such kitties. He pointed to the cat in the farthest corner, who was curled up on the highest shelf, looking at the wall. "This is Mika, she is about 10 years old, was caught on the outskirts of Seoul, constantly kittled, emaciated, wild. Now it is sterile, socially adapted, but still does not trust people too much.

"And are there other elderly cats or sick kittens?"

"There are, look at the blue padded sofa near the bar, there is a ginger and white cat lying there,"the guy brought her as close as possible, so as not to scare the cat.

Jin-Ho could barely see the small cat in the corner of the couch.

"This is Sally, and she's been through a lot. She is twelve years old, was pulled out of a sewer manhole, where she fell accidentally. She is blind, most likely from birth her eyes were damaged by a severe infection. Therefore, she is practically not available to clients…Our good SEO took it out of pity. Sally has sharpened hearing, she is perfectly oriented in space, finds her pot and will not cause problems in everyday life. The cat has a good health and will be affectionate with anyone who loves her.

"Can you ask the owner if he can give me Sally?"Jin-Ho asked.

"Are you sure? Would you like to meet her first?"

"Yes, of course."

Jin-Ho and the young waiter came within arm's reach of the cat. She seemed to sense the approach of people and stretched its muzzle to meet them. One eye was removed, and the other did not see anything, but the cat knew with intuition that someone had come to her with good news. She carefully sniffed the girl's hand, which was stretched to her,and began to purr softly, like all happy cats do. Her fur was surprisingly soft and silky, and the cat exuded a sense of incredible tenderness and homely warmth. She didn't look at all like a wild cat in the yard. The waiter looked surprised:

"I've never heard Sally purr. She definitely likes you!"

The decision was made instantly. Just a few days after work, Jin-Ho hurried to the pet store to buy the best litter, play rack, bowls, food and everything necessary for her cat, Sally. By nine o'clock in the evening, they were home. Probably, this decision to take a lonely, old, sick cat to her home was fateful. Only people with a big Heart can do such things. One of the friends, having learned about the new pet of Jin-Ho and her story, asked in surprise:

"Why do you need an old sick cat? She won't live long, will she?"

"You know, she may live a very short time, but she will not need anything and will be loved! Sally deserves it."

Meanwhile, the ginger-white cat blossomed with the owner's love. Literally a month later, there was no trace of the old and sick cat she used to be: a "young" kitten was jumping around the owner, begging for more food, mewing loudly. This "duchess" rubbed against the owner's legs and even chased toy mice around the floor. How did she do it blindly? About this cat you could write a scientific study about how love and care affect the life span and health of animals. But no science can explain this: such relationships need to be felt personally, not read about! People, like animals, also flourish from love and care, so please tell your loved ones more often that you love them!

Visiting the Snow Queen (The method of embryo cryopreservation)

 Dear readers, I continue to introduce you to excerpts from my book "Angels drink milk". 

        "Far, far away, beyond the high mountains of Korea, nearer to the North pole of the Earth, there is a Kingdom that boggles the imagination with its harshness and coldness. This is a Kingdom where everyone from small to old obey the Snow Queen. At her disposal are beautiful, but deathly cold ice palaces, endless snow valleys and ice-bound seas, but this is not enough for her "she likes to freeze small children! She takes them out of the big and warm World of Men when they are very small, because her little ice sledge can only hold small children, and six ice reindeer carry them into her ice Kingdom at full speed. The Snow Queen loves babies, but educates them in a strict and orderly manner: you can only play at certain times, you cannot be naughty, because the Palace has frozen chandeliers and dishes, they are very fragile, cold ice toys are given to them strictly on schedule. The dining room of the Palace is always full of all sorts of snow sweets: lollipops, ice cream, sweet drinks with ice. Music is playing. Time passes decorously and calmly, but there are restrictions: the Snow Queen does not allow children to play and meet each other, they feel very lonely in their cold rooms, although they know that they have relatives."

        "And even siblings aren't allowed to meet in the ice Palace " the son asked.

        "No, even siblings are forbidden to meet! Surprisingly, in the chambers of the Snow Queen, time slows down and stops, all the children who fall into the hands of the Queen of the Ice Kingdom, forever remain small children, do not grow up, their little heart sare frozen and do not beat in the chest."

        "Why don't moms try to get them back?

        "Not all mothers are destined to be reunited with their babies… Many are forever in the sweet thrall of the Snow Queen, because their return to the World of living people can end in death, if their mothers are not helped by good Fairies."

        "Where do good Fairies come from?" the son asked, wide-eyed with surprise.

        "They live in beautiful palaces in the middle of a fabulous forest in the world of the Living. Mothers of babies come to them and tearfully ask to release the children from the Kingdom of the Snow Queen. However, Fairies cannot help mothers immediately: they must pass many tests to meet the children and show that they are ready to reunite."

        "What do they do?"

        "The Snow Queen puts a lot of obstacles in the way of mothers to her Ice Kingdom. Asks riddles, tests their health and stamina, and comes up with various tests. And only the most strong-minded mothers, who have passed all the tests, were not afraid of the Queen's machinations, showed a sincere readiness to meet and give birth to their babies, meet with their children. Only for such mothers, the Ice Witch melts the hearts of tiny prisoners, freeing them from their captivity."

        "And they then live with their mothers?"

        "Yes, they come to their mothers so that they can never leave each other again. But before the meeting, mothers carry them in their tummy for nine months in order for the babies to warm up, grow and get stronger after staying in the Kingdom of the Snow Queen."

        "That is, they turn from ice cubes to live babies in the tummy of their mother?"naively asked her son.

        "Yes, baby, something like that," said Jin-Ho, surprised at her own imagination. How adroitly she invented a fairy tale on the run describing the process of cryopreservation, storage, defrosting and transfer of embryos to women's uterine cavity. In the practice of reproductive assistive technologies this process is called cryopreservation. It is used in cases where it is impossible to transfer the obtained embryos in the current, "fresh" IVF protocol, and the uterus is not ready for transfer. Sometimes they "freeze" the remaining embryos after the transfer. Thus, in different countries, the number of embryos that a woman can transfer may be limited and usually does not exceed two or three. Often, the remaining embryos are not disposed of, but offered to be frozen, so that if desired, they can be used for subsequent pregnancies. In Korea, by law, the term of cryopreservation of embryos should not exceed five years, then they are disposed of.

        The discovery of cryopreservation and its first use in the Netherlands in 1984 allowed thousands of couples to create a bank of their embryos, delaying pregnancy for a certain time period. Embryo cryobank allows women to recover from heavy surgeries, stimulations and carefully prepare for bearing children, and also allows couples to return for siblings afterwards. Also, frozen embryos are a kind of «gold reserve» in the case of terminated pregnancy in the current protocol.

        Consent to cryofreezing and defrosting must be given by both parents, that is, if they have separated for some reason and at least one does not give consent, the embryos are usually disposed of over time. However, storage periods vary from country to country and are not regulated. The chances of pregnancy after defrosting are no less than immediately after ovarian puncture in the IVF protocol. Some researchers even believe that embryos after cryofreezing even become slightly "more tenacious and stronger" than embryos without freezing. Some couples use egg cells or embryo freezing to try to prolong the period of so-called "reproductive youth", that is, to freeze their biomaterial at a younger age, and use it later, when the quality of "fresh material" may deteriorate. If at a later age the woman can no longer bear a child, as an option, the biomaterial is transferred to the surrogate mother. Many well-known people and star-couples do so.

        The method of embryo cryopreservation is applicable to the procedure of so-called "adoption" of embryos. When a childless couple, who cannot receive their embryos in the protocol for various reasons, anonymously, with the consent of the real parents, take the embryos for defrosting and further gestation. Naturally, this procedure is not free, but it can solve the huge problem of obtaining ready-to-transfer biomaterial without involving egg cells and sperm donors.

        Thanks to proper preparation and competent defrosting of her embryo, Ai Qiao Shan finally learned the happiness of motherhood, and flew to Korea from China for her only baby waiting for his mother in the Snow Queen's castle. She and her husband were head over heel with happiness, having learned about the pregnancy. The entire pregnancy was monitored and conducted in Korea by the doctor, to completely eliminate the possibility of problems. In that happy moment, when they saw the bottomless eyes of a newborn baby, the parents realized that all the trials were not in vain!

Korean family model

    Dear readers, I continue to introduce you to excerpts from my book "Angels drink milk". 

    Korean youth in the pursuit of invented ideals, wealth, external well-being, high status in society forget about simple things: caring for loved ones, tenderness in relationships, kindness, forgiving mistakes. Fewer and fewer people think about each other, and the culture of consumption is flourishing. Women are not in a hurry to go on maternity leave, as they are afraid of losing their jobs and, accordingly, money. Men are also mostly in no hurry to start a family, as they want to realize their ambitions. And many men and women, which is typical for the Korean mentality, generally remain single for the rest of their lives and live for themselves. And while western countries tend to smooth out differences between the sexes more, South Korean society remains patriarchal despite all trends.

    Outwardly, it seems that the "American" democratic model fully works in Korea: equal rights for all citizens, free participation in political life, equal educational opportunities regardless of gender, religion, identity, and so on. In fact, it turns out that almost all key positions in politics and management of commercial companies are occupied by men. This order has existed since ancient times; a man decides both political issues and issues of self-sufficiency of the family: they work and earn money. A woman's lot, in turn, is different: the birth and upbringing of children, cooking, managing the household, and caring for relatives are all female occupations. Korean men, if they are engaged in these activities at all spend no more than five percent of their time per day doing this.

    But times are changing, the world is counting down to the 21st century, and it is time for the machine of social norms, and sometimes even prejudices, to be transformed according to the requirements of modernity. It seems that someone in Korea has lost the key to this clumsy mechanism! Sometimes it seems that Korean women are being treated by "stronger sex" as "inferior" or "primitive" beings, and in some families even worse than slaves. Husbands, fathers, and brothers believe that their wives, mothers, and sisters should serve them fully at home, and they are only required to work at their jobs and bring money. Housework and child care are taken for granted by women. This attitude to women in society is the root cause of the ever-decreasing desire of young Korean women to have children and get married. It is quite possible to understand now why the feminist movements are so strong in South Korea now. Women want freedom and equal possibilities along with men not only on paper, but also in reality. First of all, they fight for the possibility of a reasonable combination of maternity and professional activities; they want to be able to care for a child without being afraid of losing their job, avoid pressure from the management, and have a decent social benefit. And also of course they do not want to be completely dependent on their husbands!

     Although divorce among South Koreans is not welcome, but in any case, a wife wants to be socially protected, as the growing tension in relations between the sexes often takes quite "wild" forms: domestic violence, prohibitions, blackmail.

    How wonderful to realize that all of the above does not apply to all South Korean families. Most of them are created out of love, live in harmony with the desires of all family members, in caring and respect for each other. It is immensely gratifying that thanks to modern technologies, despite all the circumstances, children's laughter has started to sound in many of these families.

Have you ever walked around Baltimore

         Dear readers, I continue to introduce you to excerpts from my book "Angels drink milk". 

 A few dark-skinned girls were dancing twerk[1] on the pavement to music that sounded like "Boom-boom-boom." In general, the Harbor embankment was renovated into a promenade only recently (around 1980-s), before that there were port docks, which were boring and unsafe to walk on. But now it was a very busy and interesting place, lit up in the evening by hundreds of streetlights and advertising signs.

  The city outskirts looked quite gray and boring, but against the background of skyscrapers stood out interesting buildings, for example, a colorful building of a former factory, converted into an entertainment complex. A huge guitar on one of a building side invited passersby to one of the most popular theme restaurants in the world "Hard Rock Café".

    It's not without a reason that in America Baltimore is considered a "gray" and criminal city, in many cases there are good reasons for such a fame. However, this cannot be said about the whole Baltimore, there are places that differ in comfort and peacefulness. For example, a historical quarter Mount Vernon, that in its design resembled old European towns. In the central square of the quarter, it was fun: here and there children scurried around on skateboards; people were taking photos near a huge round gray stele on top of which stood a small statue and near the monument to the national hero riding a dashing horse. Looking at her phone with its built-in navigator, Jin Ho realized that it was a Monument to George Washington. The monument in honor of the first President of the United States was completed in the first half of the nineteenth century and has a height of 62 meters. This is the first monument to the President in America. That column is the main historical monument of Baltimore, inside which the Washington Museum is located on the first floor, and from there a spiral staircase leads up to the observation platform. The girl took the opportunity to climb the stairs, and was amazed by the magnificent view of the Harbor and the entire city from a bird's-eye view.

    Next to the stele and the Washington Monument was another very notable historic building, Peabody Conservatory. It was founded by philanthropist George Peabody in 1857. During the classes at the medical University they heard about this educational institution: due to the American Civil War, the completion of this Greek-Italian building and the opening of the Conservatory were delayed until 1866. In the following years, thanks to the efforts of famous composers, conductors, and other figures in the field of musical creativity, the Institute grew from a small local Academy to a Conservatory known throughout the world. The requirements for applicants and graduates are very high. Since 1977, the Peabody Conservatory has been included in the John Hopkins University, where Jin Ho had been studying at that time.

    The monument to the national hero on a dashing horse according to Google maps turned out to be a statue of Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette in memory of the long US-French military mutual aid. He headed detachments of French volunteers in the struggle for American independence in 1777.

    In general, the Central part of the Mount Vernon quarter was full of statues: both with images of people and animals. For some reason, Jin Ho liked a lion sculpture, with which she took a selfie. Also nearby was a beautiful fountain with a statue of the Greek Cupid in the center of it. The girl did not take photos near the fountain and the statue of Cupid: the sculptor too openly depicted all his anatomic details, as if he was looking up to Italian David's statue[2]. The building of United Methodist Church caught her eye. The Church, built at the end of the 19th century, pierced the sky with its spire to a height of exactly 62 meters: to build anything higher than the monument to George Washington was officially banned. It was no longer surprising that the Foundation of the church was made of red brick, the most affordable material in the "industrial" city.

    Among the tenements of Mount Vernon dated back to the beginning of the 20th century, there were very interesting buildings in the Art Nouveau style that looked incredible in the pictures, but Jin Ho had only time to get some snacks and get to the theater. The girl had dinner in a Chinese cafe. For dinner, she paid $7, which included a huge plate of seafood soup, a similar plate of rice with vegetables and beef, and a teapot of tea. The invariable fortune cookie for tea with giving her a reason to think: "You need to take a break and prepare for the fateful meeting." She wondered what that means.

On the narrow streets on the way to the theater, she repeatedly met groups of homeless people: she tried not to pay attention to these marginal groups. This picture was normal for Baltimore, as for America as a whole. America in this regard is an amazing country: insane luxury and fabulous prices are combined with African poverty.

 

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[1]Twerk is a dance in which the movements of the buttocks and thighs are actively used.

[2] David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo. David is a 5.17-metre marble statue of the Biblical figure David, a favored subject in the art of Florence.

My novel is on free distribution at the May weekend!

 

  Friends ! Hurry up to download the first part of my novel ANGELS DRINK MILK for free on Amazon! Only 01/05 May.