Others worry that women might be pressured to use the technology to shorten pregnancies and return to work earlier, or that insurance companies will pressure parents to use the technique against their objections if it might reduce health risks relative to less intrusive options. Indeed, some observers worry that recent success with artificial womb technology brings us a step closer to Aldous Huxley’s nightmarish Brave New World. They expect that artificial wombs will be ready for human trials in the next three to five years.įor some, artificial wombs raise fears of dystopian scenarios in which babies are conceived and grown, from conception to birth, with no connection to biological parents, save for donated eggs and sperm.

Researchers have tried to mimic conditions in the uterus as closely as possible to provide premature babies with an environment more conducive to healthy physical and mental development. The device is entirely independent of a biological or surrogate mother. But we need to address some ethical questions about artificial wombs, even-and perhaps especially-as they raise the hopes of parents of premature babies.Īn artificial womb consists of a clear, plastic bag filled with a synthetic amniotic fluid and an external machine, connected to the umbilical cord, that acts as a placenta to provide nutrients and oxygen. The technology has many people excited about the possibility of increasing the survival rates of babies born extremely prematurely-particularly before the 25 th week of pregnancy-and improving the health of those that do survive. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced recently that they had created an artificial womb in which lambs born prematurely were able to grow for another month.

Freemartin brave new world