Have you guys ever heard about the artificial womb? Artificial womb might be unfamiliar to most people, but actually, development research has been going on for nearly 70 years. Artificial womb is a medical device that mimics the womb’s environment to help premature babies to survive and grow. It was first introduced by Björn Westin, a professor in obstetrics and gynecology, in 1958 according to the National Institutes of Health. The interest in the artificial womb dwindled in the 1970s, then kindled back in the 1990s. As a result, a Japanese professor Yoshinori Kuwabara succeeded in creating extrauterine fetal incubation (EUFI), subjected to a premature goat fetus. The goat was able to survive approximately 3 weeks, but the researchers concluded that it was not yet ready for humans, and further development was required. Then in 2017, a Philadelphia research team disclosed the ‘biobag’, which was the closest thing to an artificial womb that was presented to the world.

Then what will be the advantages of an artificial womb? The biggest reason why women will be so interested in the artificial womb is that pregnancy will no longer block or affect their career. Nowadays, in this society, lots of women have been getting fired from the company just because they conceived a baby, and the company judged that women will eventually become irresponsible and inefficient with their work. Moreover, all women will be equal, meaning there will be no limits on who can have a baby and who can not. Women who have sterility will also be given a chance to become a mom, and women who are vulnerable to miscarriages can stay relieved and safe. Women will be free from physical restrictions such as smoking, drinking, and other bad habits.

However, unfortunately, disadvantages also exist. Motherhood may be hard to see and women will eventually lose self identity. Women will think babies are more valuable when conceived naturally than when babies are kept in an artificial womb. Babies might offer less affection and may be considered insignificant.

Some regulatory implications will be developing strict medical standards to make sure that an artificial womb is safe in all aspects, such as the immune system and brain development. Deciding on parental rights will also be a complicated problem to consider, since whether the legal custody should fall on the parents or the technology developer is ambiguous. It is also true that it will at least have a slight impact on the abortion laws. It will challenge anti-abortionist for maintaining bodily autonomy, because pregnant women could have the baby transferred to an artificial womb instead of being aborted.

Currently, researchers are continuing to focus on enhancing function and design of the artificial womb even more to increase the survival rates and healths for premature babies.

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