In the profile by Tiffany Stanley, Dr. John Gordon describes how his work in fertility care and his Christian beliefs converged into a decision to reshape how IVF is practiced. Gordon, who serves as co-director of a large fertility clinic before he moved, said he developed doubts about his profession and became troubled by the creation of embryos beyond what couples might use.
Gordon’s objections include the fate of “surplus embryos,” which the profile says often languished in storage or were discarded. As genetic testing expanded, the profile describes how couples could choose traits such as the sex of a baby and screen out diseases as well as milder impairments, raising additional questions for him about what children are in relation to faith.
What Gordon said about the moral stakes is presented as a direct question from him: “What are children?” he asked. “I mean, are they a gift from the Lord or are they just a product where you’re trying to manufacture the best product you can?”
In 2019, Gordon relocated from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., to Knoxville, Tennessee, to create what the profile describes as a faith-based clinic aligned with his evolving views. It says Rejoice Fertility aims not to discard viable embryos, does not genetically test them, and does not donate them to science, instead facilitating embryo adoptions and trying to limit the number of embryos created.
The profile also links Gordon’s approach to his church affiliation, saying he belongs to the Presbyterian Church in America, and that his local church has supported Rejoice’s mission. It adds that the broader IVF debate remains active among some Christians and anti-abortion activists who see life as beginning with fertilization and who object to risks IVF poses to embryos.
It describes how IVF is also a point of tension for evangelicals grappling with a variety of moral concerns, and it cites a Southern Baptist Convention resolution in 2024 calling for restrictions when IVF destroys “embryonic human life.” The profile notes that the Catholic Church has long opposed IVF, while also framing Gordon’s clinic as part of a smaller trend toward faith-aligned fertility services.
To describe the clinic’s practical choices, the profile provides a basic explanation of IVF as an assisted reproductive technology that combines sperm and eggs in a lab to create an embryo that can be frozen and later transferred to a patient’s uterus in hopes of achieving pregnancy. It then says Rejoice tries to reduce embryo creation by limiting surplus and tailoring treatment around a patient’s ideal family size, including options it describes as minimal stimulation IVF, or “mini-IVF,” and natural cycle IVF.
The profile says patients at Rejoice often choose “mini-IVF,” which uses less fertility medication and generally results in fewer eggs, and it says some patients then opt to fertilize fewer eggs to yield fewer embryos. It adds that patients can also choose natural cycle IVF, which retrieves one egg produced during a woman’s regular monthly cycle, and that the clinic is unusual in prioritizing these options over other methods.
The profile acknowledges a potential drawback: if patients use their limited embryos and need another IVF cycle, it says those additional cycles typically cost between $8,000 and $10,000 at Rejoice. Even so, Gordon said his patients largely want to create fewer embryos because of their beliefs.
Finally, the profile says embryo adoption is an option in rare cases when patients have unused embryos, describing this as a form of embryo adoption within conservative Christian circles that view embryos not as property but as children waiting to be adopted. It says the clinic has launched “Rejoice Embryo Rescue,” which Gordon calls an “orphanage,” and that the clinic stores donated embryos and works with agencies—most described as Christian—that coordinate embryo adoptions.