Right Mothering

The cover article of the September Issue of Vanity Fair, “Paris Match,” contains at its very end (the final page of the article, in its web form) a gem of a quote from its subject, Carla Bruni.

Nevertheless, she has ruled out fertility programs. “If it comes, I’d be the happiest person in the world, but if it doesn’t come, I’m not going to tempt the Devil.”

Something like this could never be said in the States, and I risk great offense by expressing my agreement.  I wonder, however, why such interventions are accepted so unquestionably in our society.  At the least, shouldn’t those who are pro-life oppose intervention to create life just as fervently as they oppose intervention to terminate life, for both are playing God?  For this reason, I find the Vatican’s Dignitas Personae a breath of fresh air.

I am not Catholic, and I write from the position of fertility.  But, even after reading story after story about struggles with fertility, I am still not compelled that what these women do to bear their own child is right.  Carla Bruni expresses what I think each time that I read such a story.

First, I believe that the moment of conception is significant, at the least, on some spiritual level.  Our daughter was conceived at the height of passion, in a moment of extraordinary pleasure.  I believe that this has shaped, in no insignificant way, who she is and what she means to us.

Second, shouldn’t we be attentive to the messages that the universe sends to us?  I would consider infertility a pretty loud message from the universe.  Perhaps there are reasons – very often biological – that we shouldn’t reproduce.  What happens to the health of the human race when we storm this once-effective blockade?

Okay, I have said it.  No offense intended.