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What would happen if women no longer needed to have children? The answer for women is, what would it be like if a tiny device conceived and delivered a baby? What? Sounds like science fiction? Scientists in laboratories around the world are working to make this possible.
They are trying to create devices that resemble and function like the human uterus. Its current goal is to protect the welfare of premature babies.
These babies cannot be kept in normal incubators as vital organs like lungs are not fully developed.
This technique has been successfully tested with preterm lambs.
How do artificial ovaries work?
Speaking about this technology, Matthew Kemp, a researcher in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the National University of Singapore, says that in this method, thin tubes called catheters are attached to the baby’s umbilical cord, and blood is pumped into it. “Thus we are providing oxygen exchange to the baby. This is done by the baby’s heart, so we are giving oxygen to the baby without the assistance of the lungs,” he says.
Their team used an infant’s heart to perform the blood flow, says researcher Franz van de Vos from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. “So it’s a small but very sophisticated instrument from a technical point of view,” says van de Vos.
He mentions that he is doing this research by creating robots that look like babies and using them as models.
Can humans be created outside the womb?
Scientists estimate that it will take another 10 years before experiments with live human infants can be carried out. Because if a new technology is introduced into medicine, it has to be more advanced than what’s in practice, says Kemp. “The survival rate for babies born at 23 weeks is now 40% or 50%. So we need technology that can do better than that,” he says.
Some recent research has expanded the boundaries of this field. For the first time, healthy mouse fetuses were grown in an artificial womb for 11 days. This allowed them to observe how their internal organs developed. This is not possible in a natural womb.
Experiments are also carried out with babies of other animals that resemble human babies. Rabbit for example.
“These were very successful. This is exciting news because it shows the possibility that this method can be used in human infants,” says Jacob Hanna, a researcher in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weismann Institute of Science.
Hanna says that developing a rabbit fetus required very few changes to the artificial womb apparatus, and says he predicts the same could be used for human babies. “This is what we and other labs are trying to do.” He says.
What will happen to the world if this happens?
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What changes will this technology bring if it is implemented? Writer Helen Sedgwick tackles this question through her books.
Sedgewick says in his book that he imagined a new world. In that world the invention of the portable artificial womb has been widely accepted by society. He is working as a biological engineer. He comes from a science background.
“I put this forward as a solution. It will save the lives of premature babies. It will change the lives of people who can’t have children. But we also have bigger questions in front of us. If the technology comes instead of conventional conception and technology, who should own it? Who controls it? It For whom? Can it be imposed on the people?” says Sedgewick.
Anna Småthør, a bioethicist at the University of Oslo, says that if everyone gets the idea that only those with ovaries should conceive, it will make a big difference in the gender balance.
“It may flex gender roles but it also has the potential to have a negative impact. We live in a society where women are still under pressure to conform to social norms and expectations. Scientific discoveries alone will not bring revolution. It is society’s reaction to these discoveries that will,” she says. .
Complicated? Is it useful?
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We must be aware of the ethical issues involved in this technology.
“When this technology arrives where a fetus can grow outside of the human body for the duration of the pregnancy, we have to ask about viability early on,” says Sedgewick.
In the 1970s, when the first test tube baby was born, there was opposition and concern about it. Anna Smythor argued against this degree of dominance by science in childhood.
“Many times when people perceive something as dangerous, they don’t change their opinion even if it is proven safe. This view arises because of the artificiality of this technology and its tendency to go against the natural biological pattern of humans,” he says.
“Technology can give us great benefits enough to compromise ethics. We don’t ban nuclear physics just because someone might make a nuclear bomb. We don’t ban virus research altogether just because someone might create a dangerous disease,” says Jacob Hanna.
“It’s the same with this. We need to think deeply about it. We need to engage in open-minded discussions because this technology can give us enormous benefits,” says Hanna.
Is it necessary?
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Investors from major tech companies have recently expressed their interest in investing in the technology. They said they supported it to reduce the huge burden of fertility and bring about gender equality.
Operating these devices is very complicated. It will require a large number of highly skilled workers and will be costly, which we need to consider, says Matthew Kemp. “It would be better to spend this money on more essential needs like education, healthcare, child welfare,” he says.
Will it emancipate women?
But what happens if women don’t need to conceive and bear children?
Every woman may respond differently to this, says Sedgewick.
“It would be great for me personally, but for many women it would be disastrous. Women need to play an important role in the development of this technology. We need to avoid patriarchal tendencies controlling what happens to women’s bodies. It should be an individual women’s choice,” she says.
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