Fertility: Ectogenesis And Its Many Concerns

The first time I heard the word ‘ectogenesis’ I never envisaged that it would turn out to mean what I eventually found out.

Now to every woman out there, for those of you who may just be getting to hear the word ‘ectogenesis’ for the first time, it means pregnancy in an artificial womb, that is, outside the human body.

I am not talking about IVF here, neither am I talking about surrogacy. It is a whole lot different from IVF which is the transfer of a fertilized embryo into a woman for gestational period or even surrogacy. No! ectogenesis is a whole lot different from that as the pregnancy starts from fertilization to birth in the artificial womb. An environment which is entirely different from the human body, created by scientists.

Permit me to say “this leaves some sort of bitter-sweet taste in the mouth”, because for some people, it could be an applauded idea but not so for a lot of other people.

Now, let’s see it from the sweet perspective. It will be ‘hurray’ news for a lot of women who have being battling with infertility due to some medical issue or some other unexplained issues beyond what the doctors can fathom. So for such people who, despite their medical issues, may not still want to have surrogates help with the birth of their children for fear of legal complications, this news will come as sweet for them especially if they can afford it.

On the other hand, with the way science is going, it’s as though the natural process of childbirth is getting threatened as a lot of women especially ‘feminists’ who do not want their bodies altered in anyway due to pregnancy would resort to the ‘ectogenesis’ method of childbearing and before you know it, it becomes a class or status thing thereby giving those who still engage in natural childbearing process the look of ‘low-class people who cannot afford ectogenesis’ and thereafter become another form of stigmatisation in the society.

It is worrisome when you hear people who do not have fertility issues but would go on to say ‘I need a baby but I can’t put up with having to carry the baby in my womb for nine months so I’d rather have someone do it for me’. Gosh! What a selfish thought!!

Like someone said, when a woman says such a thing, what is the guarantee that she can take care of that child after it is born?  Good question isn’t it?

A lot of women would give anything just to experience childbirth and so it is alarming to see very fortunate ones take it for granted.

Now back to the issue of ectogenesis. Some people’s fears have been raised as they foresee an over populated world in the nearest future if the practice becomes highly accepted by thousands of people. Others fear that the biological female reproductive labour may not become necessary anymore and could eventually become outdated.

However another group of people believe that if laws and legislation are put up to curtail the abuse of the

practice then it would be a great idea for those who really do need the procedure.

Now, what say you?