Editor’s Note: A female believer surnamed Ye and her husband are deaf. Having been married for 7 years, they had always expected a child of their own but failed to get pregnant. Ye's parents sent their blood samples to top hospitals in Beijing and Wuhan for testing, but the reports showed that even if they were pregnant with a baby, the probability of the child having hearing loss would be more than 90%.
Ye's family wanted a healthy baby for the sake of future generations, so they suggested their daughter get an IVF treatment. But her husband didn't intend his wife to be impregnated with someone else's sperm. Just when the two families kept arguing about it, the wife was pregnant with a healthy baby of their own.
The following was told from the perspective of a female believer surnamed Dai:
Ye and her husband met online, who are deaf and mute. When Ye was little, her parents worked outside of their hometown all year round, which left her to her grandmother to look after. Once, she fell ill with a high fever. Not being treated in time, plus an overdose of medicine by the barefoot doctor later ("barefoot doctors" referring to healthcare workers trained to attend to the basic medical needs of China's vast rural population from the 1960s to 1980s), Ye lost her hearing at age 3, and subsequently couldn’t speak either. On the other hand, her husband's family is congenitally deaf. The two met online and then got married. Afterward, they had been living a happy and content life, with one pity that they had been childless for 7 years.
They had always expected their own child. At first, Ye had taken traditional Chinese medicine for four years for suffering from thyroid disease. Later, she recovered and stopped taking the medicine. But she still did not conceive. In addition, given that she was over 30 years old, the families of both parties were very anxious about it.
As a result, Ye's parents sent their blood samples to top hospitals in Beijing and Wuhan for testing, but the reports showed that even if they were pregnant, there was a 90% chance that the child being deaf. Therefore, her parents suggested Ye conceive with someone else's sperm through an IVF treatment. Her husband's family being congenitally deaf, they were also worried that the baby would inherit hearing impairment from the father. Ye didn't know whether IVF would be in line with the teaching of the Bible, so she came to me for help and asked if they could apply for an IVF treatment.
I immediately consulted the pastor of the church, who said that according to the principles of the Bible, it would be best for Ye to have a baby by herself. If the sperm donor was her husband, they could go for it. But with someone else's sperm, they absolutely shouldn’t carry on. (This statement is controversial in Christian ethics.)
Later, Ye's mother also asked me to convince her daughter and son-in-law to accept an IVF treatment. I tried to persuade her that they better get pregnant naturally. Her mother said， "Can you guarantee that their child won’t be born deaf as they are? Or, who will take care of them as three deaf and mute people when her father and I pass away? Can you take this responsibility?" I replied, "Ma’am, please calm down. I can't take this responsibility, but there is the One who can!" Then she asked, "Who is that?" I told her it was God our Father! She said with a cynical laugh, "God? Where is He? Why haven’t I seen Him?"
I told her that God was a spirit that was omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent! She listened but couldn’t fully understand it. Then, her mother waved her hand and said, "You say the God you believe in is all-powerful, fine. I'll give you a month to see if my daughter can get pregnant. She's already in her 30s, for which you shouldn’t waste her time. If it doesn't work after a month, we will go to Wuhan to do IVF!"
During this period, other church staff were also in touch with Ye and prayed for her and her family. At the same time, they also advised Ye to handle the relationship with her family wisely, and keep peaceful and friendly communications so that they wouldn’t hurt each other for this.
After a month, Ye sent me a message at night, saying that they had a fight at home. Not having come to faith yet, her parents couldn't understand their thoughts. The family fought endlessly over how to have a child. Her parents being so angry triggered high blood pressure.
"I pray with my husband every day, and we only ask God to give us a baby. Is it possible He hasn’t heard us?" Ye asked.
The outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in early 2020 forced the entire city to pause everything. The turmoil in Ye's family over pregnancy was also suspended. In April and May, when the epidemic was over, one after another, churches began to resume on-site gatherings. During this period, I had been leading Ye and her husband to participate in various ministries of the church.
One day in November, Ye texted me saying that she was pregnant. Knowing the news, her husband was the happiest of the whole family, adding "It would save a lot of pains without having to go through the IVF process."
In July 2021, Ye gave birth to a lovely baby girl. The companion, a female believer surnamed Wu, sat her throughout the whole process, saying, "Ye's parents were afraid of a possible bad test result of the child, for that reason, I too the baby for the check-up. The results came out showing that everything was normal."
After the baby’s 100 days celebration, the pastor of the church also went to visit Ye and see her daughter, which was an opportunity to spread the gospel to her parents.
The pastor personally prayed for the baby. Before leaving, we formed a circle holding hands, and the elder pastor offered a prayer for Ye's family. At the end of the prayer, I saw tears in her parents' eyes, for which I believed that we were all touched by the same Holy Spirit. Just as we were about to leave at the doorstep, Ye's father suddenly asked the pastor, "So many top hospitals have confirmed that 90% chance their child would suffer hearing loss with a scientific basis, but you see now... It's kind of magical. I can't figure it out, but I'm so grateful. I think we're very lucky."
The elder pastor replied, " God created our entire universe and everything, including us human beings in His own image. God is sovereign over all things, for He decides and puts it into effect."
After hearing this, Ye's father was stunned. He muttered, " He decides and puts it into effect." I believe that at this moment, the seeds of the gospel were planted in the hearts of Ye’s parents, and the rest was to wait patiently for God’s work.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
