One tragic day, Granger Smith’s life was changed forever when his son River died in a drowning accident.
The country music singer was devastated and after 25 years in the spotlight, he decided to set new goals, draw closer to Jesus and become a pastor. While strengthening his relationship with God was healing, Smith and his wife, Amber, realized their son’s bright light was missing in their lives and wanted another child.
However, after giving birth to River, Amber underwent a tubal ligation.
“Looking back now, it seems like we just knew when our family would start and when it would end,” Smith said. Allie Beth Stuckey “I can empathize,” she said. “I’m against that kind of surgical contraception because it puts us in a really tough position.”
That’s when he and his wife began discussing IVF.
“My mom was really struggling,” Smith explains. “She said, ‘But how do I balance playing God with having a baby?'” But a conversation with his son Lincoln gave him what he believed to be the answer.
“My father was just staring out the window and suddenly said something: ‘Dad, are some trees made by God and some by humans?’ Without thinking, I answered right away: ‘No, God makes all the trees, but sometimes humans need to plant the seeds.'”
“I remember being overwhelmed by the idea that every baby is made by God and sometimes humans plant the seeds, and I found comfort in that,” he told Stuckey.
Smith and his wife began the IVF process, and despite facing ethical questions over what to do with the embryos, Amber became pregnant with their son, Maverick, who is now three years old.
Though the Smiths love and cherish their son, they were horrified by what they saw at the clinic they used after Maverick’s birth — calling it “rotten fruit” — and told Stuckey they never want to do it again.
“What they’re promoting through IVF is making it possible for anyone to have a baby. Not just a man and a woman, or a married couple. And it’s not just about that clinic,” Smith said. “There’s so much evil surrounding IVF that comes from it. It’s intolerable that this kind of technology can be put into the hands of evil people.”
Stuckey agrees.
“Too many times, Christian parents who would and do become great parents don’t realize the ethical dilemma they are entering into before they begin IVF,” she said, adding: “For me, it doesn’t come from a place of hatred or condemnation. It comes from a recognition that these babies are made in the image of God.”
