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Procreative Sex During Pregnancy


CoffeeCatholic

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CoffeeCatholic

I was just wondering if anybody knew the church's teaching regarding sex during pregnancy. Let me clarify-

When a married couple come together intimately, they must be intending both the procreative and unitive aspects of the act in order for that act to be "kosher" in the church's eyes, correct? Now, when, God willing, the woman conceives and they are blessed with a child, how can their union be procreative? Unitive makes sense, but if they have already opened themselves up for children, and have been blessed, then is their act required to be anything beyond just unitive? From a practical point of view, it may be very difficult for the couple to consummate their union in the traditional way while she is pregnant, especially as the pregnancy progresses. Does this mean the couple can not participate in any sexual activity while she is pregnant if the act can not be consummated in the traditional way, even though it would not be denying the procreative aspect as she is with child? Or are certain unitive activities allowed while the couple are pregnant that allow them to continue an intimate (sexual) relationship while penetration is impossible? Specifically, are certain activities that allow orgasm of either spouse not during coitus allowed at this time while not allowed while the wife is not pregnant?

wow, that was a tough one to get out- hope it's clear enough!

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If we frame it in another way, it will be easier to answer your first question. The conjugal act must be unitive and open to life. However for sex to be sinful for a married couple, they must be intentionally avoiding pregnancy or are objectifying the other. In this light, you can see that the Church sees the conjugal act as a blessing for couples who are pregnant or are past child bearing years.

As far as "other acts" that stimulate orgasm when the couple can't copulate, these acts most likely would be considered to be disordered.

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What Jamie is true. I hesitate to add anything further, but it might be helpful to point out that the orgasm of the woman may occur outside of coitus so long as it is in the context of conjugal union preformed in a human manner.

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[quote name='hot stuff' date='23 September 2009 - 05:57 PM' timestamp='1253743035' post='1971759']
However for sex to be sinful for a married couple, they must be intentionally avoiding pregnancy
[/quote]

While I agree with hot stuff on other parts of his post, I would like to point out that this particular sentence could cause confusion. A couple practicing NFP can intentionally avoid pregnancy if there is a grave cause, but by intentionally avoid we mean that they cannot use any artificial means to keep conception from occurring, but rather they may use the female body's natural cycle to avoid pregnancy by not having sex during her fertile time.

I would also like to expound on what hot stuff said about open to life. When we use the word procreative the only element of that is normally brought to mind is conception of a child, which is why the phrase open to life seems more applicable in a lot of case, ie when a woman is pregnant, past child-bearing years, or is infertile. Open to life encompasses a lot more than just conception or being open to conception of a child, it also means being completely open to one's spouse, meaning not allowing a barrier (contraception) to be placed between you and your spouse. The John Paul II in Theology of the Body referred to a man's seed as life-giving, or as a life source. This is possibly related to the Jewish concept that blood equated to life. So when a husband reaches orgasm within his wife, he is pouring life into her. So even when a woman is pregnant, beyond child-bearing years, or is infertile, it is still open to life.

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An addition to my above post some added information/input from Terra Firma

One other thing I would have added is that the "procreative" nature of sex, while it does involve actual procreation, is more about the nature of the act than about whether or not the act is actually capable of producing procreation. A sexual act can be procreative even if it is not capable of resulting in procreation.

Even though the unitive aspect of sex is important, as is the pleasure, both are understandable only in the context of the procreative. See
www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=18-06-022-f

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Laudate_Dominum

If the couple intentionally doing the procreating intends to do what the Church intends, and if their procreative sex results in pregnancy, the sex they had when they procreated is intentionally in conformity with the intentions of the Church. Therefore, because the couple is pregnant after said procreative sex, the sex that happens intentionally in the pregnancy is intended the same as the procreative sex that caused the pregnancy. I hope I’ve made myself clear.


I just haven't answered a QA question in ages so this is a joke. I have nothing to add to what has already been said other than, if you have any further questions, or need some clarifications on this one, please post a new topic. :-D

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