Picture this: You are an expecting mother, nine months pregnant, getting ready to go watch the birth of your own baby as it comes out of a lab room, kind of like watching Frankenstein come to life. This science fiction-like concept is something that is possible with today’s technology through a device called the artificial womb. Also known as a biobag, an artificial womb is a big plastic sack with synthetic amniotic fluid (the fluids surrounding a fetus in the natural womb) and two tubes: one for drainage and one for feeding. Scientists have already successfully tested this technology by growing a lamb in such a sack. Thus we can ask: How long before they are used for humans? As of now, artificial wombs are being developed only to help premature babies, not to grow babies from the early stages. But do the benefits of using this technology outweigh the thousands of possible complications and ethical concerns? I say no. Something that raises serious ethical concerns and puts the physical health of a being under scientific experimentation has no place in society. The technology also raises the question of our safety. If humans are capable of controlling how life is brought to this earth, what else can we do to manipulate each other?

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But the question of others’ lives and bodies aside, the biggest ethical concern raised by womb simulations relates to the questions of feminism and equality for women. There are two major concepts in feminism that artificial wombs raise questions about, and the first one is abortion. As the article “Why Growing Babies Outside the Womb Raises Ethical Concerns” states, “But there are fears that other women thinking about abortion might be compelled to use an artificial womb to continue gestation.” In other words, the argument goes, by giving women the option to continue developing a baby outside the womb, there is no longer a need to terminate a “pregnancy.” For a woman who wants nothing to do with the situation and just wants to get it over with, it is kind of an ambush: It’s as if society is deciding what she needs to do for her. Whether the baby grows in her or in a biobag it is still her baby, and she should have the right to choose whether or not to become a parent. Even if the woman does get the right to choose at the end, is she safe from the backlash and possible hate that she will get if she chooses abortion? If there is another option, is she truly safe from society’s judgment and her own mental state? There is also the question of adoption. What if this new way of saving babies creates a problem of too many adoptable babies and not enough parents? Is it fair to give those babies a life where they aren’t wanted or loved by anyone? The same article words it perfectly: “We need to clearly outline pregnancy termination rights, parenthood and guardianship issues, limitations to experimentation, and other issues before the technology is fully realized and available. We need to do this soon rather than allowing the law to lag behind the science.” If we don’t finish addressing some issues before these come into play, we are going to find ourselves in a bunch of legal messes.

 

    

Then there’s the question of how artificial wombs will affect women’s roles and the way people view women in society. Now, we know — biologically speaking — only women have to go through the pain of childbirth, and that gains them a lot of respect. If suddenly there is a machine that can do it for the women, then they no longer will be praised for going through the pain of bringing life to the world. When they say “I endured all this pain,” people can answer “you didn’t have too.” In the question of equality between men and women, I think that pregnancy and childbirth give women an advantage over men, because it allows them to do something amazing that men cannot do. Our biological advantage makes people realize how much we are capable of, and helps us be perceived as capable and strong beings. The respect that we gain as the ones who have to go through a pregnancy and the pain that comes with it helps women gain more rights.

    

Aside from the feminist concerns, what are the potential physical and mental issues facing people who were born from artificial wombs? A study done by the Hastings Women's Law Journal has shown that babies grown in artificial wombs are prevented from forming an emotional and physical bond with their mother. Perhaps we can save lives, as in the cases of premature babies, but at what cost to the brain’s development? When babies are born, they have automatic instincts to know how to sleep, eat, and cry; would birth by biobag slow these processes down? Also, in the natural womb, they have to develop all by themselves, but in biobags their development must be encouraged more than usual, so it’s possible babies born from artificial wombs will struggle to continue developing once they are born. Lastly, babies born from artificial wombs don’t get the initial nurturing foundation of being close to their mothers, and scientists don’t know how this lack of closeness will affect the babies in the long run. They might be born in a state of depression that never leaves them. They might be born with no empathy. To my mind, all of these risks make furthering the development of artificial womb technology not worth it.

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Overall, mimicking the womb of women for the development of a baby opens many cans of worms that are better left shut. Between all the ethical concerns and health concerns, biobag is something that does more harm than good. I believe that we need to leave the reproductive process of women the way nature designed it. These artificial wombs also resound with the are-we-safe question. Are we really safe from the future advancements of technology, such as these that threaten to replace human processes? Are we safe from the future generations that plan to consist of “lab grown” products? Are those “products” themselves safe from bullying, socioeconomic inequality, and other forms of discrimination? Let me leave you with this parting thought: How would you feel if you were raised in a lab instead of given the nurturing experience of being held by someone who loves you?