A teacher at a Roman Catholic school in Indianapolis was asked to leave her job because she admitted to having infertility treatment.

IVF treatment is seemingly against Roman Catholic beliefs, which meant that after telling the principal of the school of what she had her husband had decided to do her job as a teacher became untenable.

Mrs Herx apparently has a health problem that now stops her becoming pregnant naturally. However, the couple who have a child already wanted a second baby, but had to undergo IVF treatment. She told reporters: “We loved being parents. We were elated when we had our first. We just wanted to expand our family like most men and women do.”

When the school found out they took a dim view. Hence, Mrs Herx was asked to leave. But the teacher was not prepared to take this lying down and decided to speak out. Her lawyer issued a statement saying: “In 2008, Mrs. Herx told her principal she was considering in vitro. The principal told her she would quote, ‘pray for her.’”

Her husband added that at no time did the school suggest her job was on the line if she agreed to the treatment. He said: “If anyone from the administration had come and told her there was an issue, we would have been able to make an educated decision and we were never given that opportunity.”

Interestingly, it was only after another teacher made a complaint that the school took the decision to fire Mrs Herx.

The couple made the decision to fight this and so took the school authorities to court, something she was reluctant to do. Mrs Herx added: “I can’t even explain how difficult and traumatic it is as a woman. All you want is a child and you think that’s what you’re supposed to do and that’s what you want to do. And to not be able to do that.”