Is the Development of Artificial Wombs Ethically Desirable

Is the development of artificial wombs ethically desirable?

Elizabeth Ivana Yuko, BA, MA, LLM

PhD

DublinCityUniversity

Professor Bert Gordijn

School of Biotechnology

September 2012

I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of PhD is entirely my own work, and that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge breach any law of copyright, and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work.

Signed:______

ID No.: 55141684

Date: 10 September 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements and dedication…………………………………………….…6

Abstract………………………………………………………..…………………..7

Chapter I: Introduction………………………………………………………..…...8

1.1Research question…………………………..………………....……………….8

1.2 Artificial wombs…………………………………………………….………...8

1.3 Research into artificial wombs…………………………………..…………...10

1.4 Methodology…………………………………………………………..……..15

1.4.1 Necessary conditions………………………………………………………16

1.4.2 Questions…………………………………………………………….……..17

1.4.3 Limitations………………………………………………………….……...19

1.4.4 Normative instruments………………………………………….………….20

1.5 Outline…………………………………………………………………..……29

Chapter II: The ethics of artificial wombs: a review of the literature…………………………………………………………………...……..32

2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………….…32

2.2 Methodology…………………………………………………………….…..34

2.3 Results…………………………………………………………………….…36

2.3.1 Date of publication…………………………………………………….…..36

2.3.2 Type of publication…………………………………..………….…...…….38

2.3.3 Valuable goals achieved using artificial wombs……………………….…39

2.3.4 Ethical problems surrounding artificial wombs……………………….….46

2.3.5 Should artificial wombs be used?...... 55

2.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..55

Chapter III: Valuable goals resulting from artificial wombs…………………...59

3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………59

3.2 Goals regarded as valuable in the literature………………………………...60

3.2.1 Assisting those who are infertile or otherwise unable to have children in vivo…….…….………………………………………………………………….60

3.2.2 An alternative to the death of the foetus following the abortion of a pregnancy…………………………………………………………..…………..60

3.2.3 Assisting premature babies……………………………………..………..62

3.2.4 Women would not have to be pregnant………………………………….63

3.2.5 Having a safe/controlled environment during gestation……………...….63

3.2.6 May decrease gender inequality………………………………………….64

3.2.7 An alternative to surrogacy……………………………………………....65

3.2.8 Healthier, less possessive mother/child relationships………………...….66

3.2.9 Benefits foetal medicine……………………………………………….…67

3.2.10 Growing embryos/foetuses to farm organs/tissues for

transplant…………………………….………………………....67

3.2.11 Adoption of leftover IVF embryos………………………………….…..69

3.2.12 Allowing homosexual couples to have their own genetic children without a surrogate…………………………………………………………………..……70

3.2.13 Expanding reproductive options/autonomy……………………………..70

3.2.14 Saving foetuses when mother is dead or dying…………………………71

3.2.15 Complete ectogenesis guarantees paternity……………………………..71

3.2.16 Moving multiple births to an artificial womb……………………...…..72

3.2.17 May reduce reproductive cloning…………………………………..….72

3.3 Conclusion………………………………………………………...………73

Chapter IV: Ethical problems relating to experimental treatment on embryos and foetuses in the development of artificial wombs………………………..……74

4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………...….74

4.2 The ethics of foetal and neonatal intensive care………………………….81

4.2.1 What constitutes experimental treatment?...... 82

4.3 Benefit/harm of the treatment……………………………………….……83

4.4 Consent………………………………………………………………..….88

4.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..94

Chapter V: Ethical problems relating to abortion resulting from the clinical practice of artificial womb technology……………………………………….98

5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………..…..98

5.2 The moral status of the embryo………………………………………..…99

5.2.1 The conceptionalist view…………………………………………..….103

5.2.2 The non-gradualist non-conceptionalist view…………………..…….110

5.3 Could (or should) a woman be forced to transfer her foetus to an artificial womb following the abortion of a pregnancy, in order to continue its gestation?...... 115

5.3.1 The debate………………………………………………………….…116

5.3.2 Assessment……………………………………………………………124

5.3.2.1 Autonomy…………………………………………………………...124

5.3.2.2 Human dignity and human rights…………………………………...128

5.3.2.3 Benefit and harm……………………………………………………130

5.3.2.4 Consent……………………………………………………………..131

5.3.2.5 Cost…………………………………………………………...…….133

5.3.2.6 Artificial wombs are not a solution to abortion………………...…..134

5.4 Would it be ethically permissible to terminate an artificial gestation process?...... 140

5.4.1 The debate……………………………………………………………140

5.4.2 Assessment……………………………………………………...……143

5.5 Could the existence and use of artificial wombs result in an ethically undesirable erosion of abortion rights?...... 148

5.5.1 The debate………………………………………………...…………..150

5.5.2 Assessment……………………………………………………………153

5.6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...157

Chapter VI: Ethical problems relating to commodification and commercialisation resulting from artificial womb technology…………………………………161

6.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………….161

6.2 Concepts……………………………………………………………..…161

6.2.1 Language…………………………………………………..………....164

6.3 Debate surrounding the commodification/commercialisation of human biological materials and processes in general……………………………...165

6.3.1 Arguments in favour of and against commodification and commercialisation of human biological materials and processes………………………………167

6.3.2 The debate surrounding the commodification and commercialisation of human biological materials and processes………………………………….167

6.3.2.1 Arguments in favour of commodification and commercialisation of human biological materials and processes…………………………………………167

6.3.2.2 Arguments against commodification and commercialisation of human biological materials and processes…………………………………..…….169

6.4 Impact of artificial wombs on commercialisation and commodification of human biological materials and processes………………………………..173

6.5 Normative analysis……………………………………………………179

6.5.1 Commodification and commercialisation of pregnancy and childbirth……………………………………………………………….…180

6.5.1.1 Human dignity and human rights…………………………………183

6.5.1.2 Autonomy…………………………………………………………186

6.5.2 Commodification and commercialisation of gametes……………….188

6.5.3 Commodification and commercialisation of embryos and foetuses used as research materials……………………………………………………….…190

6.5.3.1 Human dignity and human rights…………………………….……192

6.5.3.2 Benefit and harm……………………………………………..……194

6.5.4 Commodification and commercialisation of embryos to create biological materials for transplantation…………………………………………….…195

6.5.4.1 Human dignity and human rights………………………………….195

6.5.4.2 Benefit and harm…………………………………………………..195

6.5.5 Commodification and commercialisation of babies…………………196

6.5.5.1 Human dignity and human rights………….…………………….…198

6.6 Conclusions…………………………………………………………….199

Chapter VII: Conclusion……………………………………………………201

7.1 Results…………………………………………………………………..201

7.2 Relevance ………………………………………………………………206

7.3 Outlook…………………………………………………………………211

Bibliography……….……………………………………………………….215

Court decisions…………………………………………………………...... 229

International treaties and national laws…………………………………….229

Acknowledgements and dedication

I would like to thank my supervisor, Bert Gordijn, for his assistance and feedback throughout my writing process. I would also like to thank Adam McAuley for his continued guidance and advice. I am grateful to Danielle Montgomery and Shiofra Bannon for their wonderful support (of many varieties) both in and out of the office. Special thanks to Alexandra Curley, Claire Devlin, Tim Jacquemard, Julia Smith and Carol Staunton for their extremely valuable and insightful feedback. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support throughout this project, including my five wonderful aforementioned editors (and friends), the residents of Cian Park (for dealing with me on a day-to-day basis), The Park Singers (for providing me with a welcome distraction), the Yuko/Broers/Silver family in Cleveland, the Kilroy family in Ireland (for many Sunday dinners and helpful chats), and the Correll family in New York.

This dissertation is dedicated to my family – my parents (John Yuko and Ivana Helen Majer Yuko) in particular. This is something I never could have accomplished without their love, encouragement, and unwavering belief in me. I have been extremely fortunate to have been surrounded by strong, intelligent women who continue to be hugely influential on my work and my life. The grace and strength of Ivana Helen Majer Yuko, Helen Corel Majer, Georgene Kilroy Yuko, Frances SajničCorrell, Angela Yuko and Victoria Yuko continue to be an inspiration.

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the question of whether the further development of artificial wombs is ethically desirable. It is important to precede the existence of artificial wombs with an ethical analysis of both the valuable goals and the ethical problems associated with the technology.The technology required for artificial wombs capable of the entire gestation process does not currently exist. However, given the great strides made in artificial reproduction and neonatal care in the last four decades, the development of artificial wombs is no longer entirely that of science fiction. Following an introduction of the dissertation in Chapter I, Chapter II contains a review of the academic literature discussing the ethics of artificial wombs. Chapter III analyses the valuable goals that could result from the existence and use of artificial wombs. Chapters IV, V and VI each examine one set of ethical problems that could result from artificial wombs – including ethical problems relating to the experimental treatment phase, abortion, and commodification and commercialisation – and determines whether or not these problems are surmountable. Chapter VII discusses the results and relevance of the dissertation as well as an outlook on the future of the development of artificial wombs.

Chapter I: Introduction

1.1 Research question

1.2 Artificial wombs

The technology required for artificial wombs capable of the entire gestation process does not currently exist. However, given the great strides made in artificial reproduction and neonatal care in the last four decades, the development of artificial wombs is no longer entirely that of science fiction. Currently, technology exists on both ends of the human gestation process – the ability to create embryos via IVF in the early stages, and to keep foetuses alive after only 22-24 weeks in the womb in the final stages. The challenge will be the creation of artificial womb technology that would be capable of the entire gestation process, including differentiation of body parts, formation of a central nervous system, and continued growth and development until birth. Furthermore, it should be clarified that the artificial wombs discussed in this dissertation would exist outside of the human body as an external device, as opposed to an artificial uterus grown via tissue engineering and transplanted into a person. In cases involving a tissue-engineered artificial womb which is transplanted into a woman, many of the same ethical issues surrounding organ transplantation – which at this stage is an ethically accepted practice – would arise. Whilst there could be other ethical issues relating to the reproductive nature of the transplanted organ, the gestation process would occur inside a woman. Similarly, this dissertation will not address the ethical issues of using a woman in a persistent vegetative state as a gestational surrogate.[2] This dissertation examines the valuable goals and ethical issues that arise when the gestation process occurs entirely independent of the human body, in an external device. It is too early to tell what this device would look like or the specific technologies that would be involved.[3]

This dissertation examines the ethical desirability of the development of artificial wombs, because it is important to precede the existence of the technology with a set of ethical guidelines; in particular, recognising any potential ethical problems that could result from the technology. Whilst modern science has the ability to create a human embryo in vitro, as well as to keep increasingly younger neonates alive in incubators outside of their mother’s body, the actual gestation process can, at this stage, only take place in a woman’s body. There are many elements to consider in that process, including the inflow of nutrients, getting rid of wastes, how the foetus breathes, and perhaps most difficult to duplicate in vitro – the physical, chemical, hormonal, emotional and psychological interaction between the developing foetus and the woman gestating it. Unlike an incubator, an artificial womb must not only be able to sustain existing neonates, but must also be capable of the development of embryos and foetuses.

The desire for some people not only to have children, but to have additional control over when and how they procreate is unlikely to wane. This is evident from both the unwavering interest in and use of assisted reproductive technologies[4] as well as birth control[5] – both permitting people to decide if and when they are going to have children. Once in existence, artificial wombs could be used for either complete or partial ectogenesis, the latter involving situations when an embryo/foetus is conceived naturally and implanted in a woman’s uterus, but at some stage during the gestation process is transferred to an artificial womb. Artificial wombs would be yet another way of exercising reproductive autonomy, providing people with another way to procreate.

1.3 Research into artificial wombs

Whilst artificial wombs may seem futuristic, the idea of creating a human being outside of a woman’s body is hardly novel. In the sixteenth century, Paracelsus provided a formula with which to create a “homunculus” – an artificial man with no soul – in an artificial womb.[6] This formula involves sealing a man’s semen in the womb of a horse for 40 days (or until it begins to live, move and can easily be seen), and then nourishing it daily with human blood for 40 weeks until it becomes a human infant resembling those born of a woman, only significantly smaller.[7] Artificial wombs were also discussed and debated in the 1920s in the To-day and To-morrow book series, which will be discussed in Chapter II.

Chapter IV will discuss how the development of artificial wombs is likely to occur. Rather than attempting to specifically create a device capable of the entire gestation process, the development of artificial wombs is most likely to happen gradually, as already-existing technology – such as IVF[8] and incubators for premature neonates – advances. The most difficult part of the process will, in all likelihood, be bridging the gap between creating an embryo and implanting it in the artificial womb, and sustaining a late-term foetus/neonate in an incubator. Whilst incubators may become increasingly advanced, the difficulty will lie in making them capable of not only sustaining life, but also assisting in and continuing the physical development of the foetus/neonate’s organs and systems.

There have been several notable research projects specifically involving early-stage artificial womb technology. There were some attempts at developing an artificial placenta in the 1950s and 1960s.[9] Whilst most of these experiments were able to maintain stable blood oxygen levels in their subjects attached to the artificial placenta for a short period, any attempts at longer periods of attachment to the artificial placenta resulted in the death of the subject.[10]

In the early 1980s, Thomas Schaffer, a neonatal physiologist, attempted to develop an artificial amniotic fluid which would help neonates survive longer.[11] He found that the reason so many premature babies do not survive is because their lungs are not developed enough to take in oxygen from the air, and as a result, may survive longer if they would be able to breathe oxygenated liquid.[12] A clinical trial took place in 1996, where 13 infants born after 22-34 weeks with severe breathing difficulties were given oxygenated liquid between four hours and three days.[13] Seven[14] of the 13 babies were discharged from the hospital and appeared to be healthy several months later.[15]

In 1988, researchers in Bologna, Italy, headed by Dr. Carlo Bulletti implanted surplus IVF embryos into artificially perfused uteruses obtained from women who underwent a hysterectomy as a result of cervical cancer.[16] The article published on the study noted that “the present study was undertaken to obtain the first early human pregnancy in vitro because future complete ectogenesis should not be ruled out.”[17] The researchers were able to successfully implant an embryo in the wall of the artificially perfused uterus, where it grew for 52 hours[18] before removing it for dissection.[19]

Research has also taken place into the creation of an artificial placenta. As mentioned above, efforts to develop a clinically applicable artificial placenta system commenced in the late 1950s.[20] In 1990, Yoshinori Kuwabara of the University of Tokyo used an artificial placenta to maintain mid- to late-stage goat foetuses, which were held in a tank of amniotic fluid and nourished through catheters.[21] The goat foetuses had to be given muscle relaxants because they were pulling the catheters out as they twisted and moved around in the tank.[22]Two of the goat foetuses involved in the study that were taken from the womb three weeks early survived until their normal term, but because of the muscle relaxant, were unable to develop muscle tone, stand or breathe unassisted.[23] As a result, when removed from the ventilator, the goats died within hours.[24]

In 1993, the United States Patent Office granted a patent to Dr. William Cooper for a “placental chamber” – in other words, a primitive artificial womb.[25] The patent application describes Cooper’s invention as a “life support system for a premature baby which remains attached to its placenta through its umbilical cord” and could be used to support foetuses after a few as ten weeks of in utero gestation.[26] However, Cooper’s work is theoretical, and was not attempted in practical research.

Research has also taken place into the other end of gestation: the implantation of the fertilised egg into a uterus. Beginning in 2001, Dr. Hung-Ching Liu of CornellUniversity began to grow an artificial uterus using cells removed from a woman’s uterus, hormones and growth factors.[27] The uterine tissue grew on biodegradable scaffolds modelled after the interior of the uterus.[28] The artificial uterus continued to grow after the scaffold model had dissolved. In unpublished work, Dr. Liu and her team found that when they placed surplus IVF embryos onto the uterus they attached themselves to the plugs of the endometrial cells six days after fertilisation, just as they do in a natural womb.[29] In 2003, Dr. Liu grew a mouse embryo almost to full term in three-dimensional engineered endometrial tissue, although it died days later.[30]

Research was published in 2008 which attempted to create an artificial womb of sorts to test foetal monitoring systems, rather than having to conduct clinical testing on pregnant women.[31] The goal of the project was to create an artificial womb that replicates the acoustical state of a woman’s abdomen. This was accomplished by applying various signals to speakers placed underneath water-filled rubber balloons, which simulated foetal heartbeat propagation through amniotic fluid of the placenta.[32] After comparative experimentation, it was found that the aforementioned system closely simulates acoustical conditions in the mother’s abdomen.[33] Whilst the acoustical conditions in utero are an important and interesting part of foetal development, the “artificial womb” created in this research was merely a stand-in chamber for a pregnant woman, and was not a deliberate attempt to create an artificial womb capable of the entire (or even partial) gestation process. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note as the findings could potentially contribute to the creation of an artificial womb in the future.

Whilst these are examples of research attempts and theoretical approaches to specifically address components required for an artificial womb, it is more likely that artificial wombs will result from more mainstream research. The research in the aforementioned studies may prove to be useful in the development of artificial wombs, or could end up not being at all influential. It is, however, important to at least mention these specific research attempts at creating an artificial womb to convey that research in this area of assisted reproductive technology is occurring.