Romania's majority Orthodox Church on Monday condemned in-vitro fertilization a day after a 67-year-old Romanian, using the assisted reproduction technique, became the oldest woman ever known to have given birth.
Adriana Iliescu, a retired university professor who had undergone fertility treatment for nine years before succeeding in becoming pregnant, gave birth to twin girls Sunday, but only one, weighing 1.4 kilogram (three pounds), survived.
"The technique used by this woman runs counter to Christian morality," Bishop Ciprian Campineanul told a press conference Monday.
"Life is a gift of God and a child is the fruit of a love relationship between a man and a woman. I dare say the desire of this woman to have a child at the age of 67 shows her selfishness," he added. "The Orthodox Church encourages couples to resort to adoption rather than to in-vitro fertilization."
In-vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), in which fertilization is achieved by a single sperm injected into the egg, have become widespread practices in wealthy industrialized nations in the 25 years since the first "test-tube baby" was born, in July 1978.
Campineanul also criticized "performance-driven" doctors "who refused to take Christian morality into account."
Meanwhile Romanian Health Minister Mircea Cinteza also warned post-menopausal women against giving birth.
She called for a public debate "to analyze the medical, ethical and financial consequences of assisted reproduction."
Doctors handling the Iliescu pregnancy had maintained total secrecy about the case, which became known to the Romanian public only from one exclusive interview the 67-year-old woman gave on the Realitatea television channel last month.
In the interview, filmed in a hospital whose identity and location were not divulged, the retired professor said she had "not been able to resign myself to not having a child."
"I always dreamt of being a mother, and now I'm experiencing the happiest time of my life, waiting to bring my twin daughters into the world," the graying academic said with visible emotion.
Iliescu said she did not feel the effect of her relatively advanced years.
Her case has sparked widespread controversy in Romania.
"She will be too old to see her children grow up," lamented the newspaper Cotidianul ahead of the birth, questioning the ethics of doctors who consented to her being artificially inseminated.
A new Romanian law on assisted reproduction is to come into force in the country on January 1, 2007, the date on which Romania hopes to join the European Union. It is expected to include an age limit of around 50 years of age for Romanian women seeking artificial insemination.