Newly Developed 'Artificial Womb' Raises Ethical Questions
Bioethicists are raising ethical concerns following the development of a womb-like device designed to eventually support critically premature babies.
So far, the device has only been tested on baby lambs, but scientists at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) said they plan to test it on premature babies in the next few years, according to a study published last week in the journal Nature Communications.
The system, called the "Biobag," consists of a container made of inert plastic and electrolyte fluid that serves as substitute amniotic fluid. It also contains a device that allows the baby's heart to pump blood via the umbilical cord and acts in place of the placenta, continually exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide, according to USA Today.
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In the study, lambs born at the equivalent of 23 weeks in a human pregnancy were kept alive and appeared to develop normally while floating inside the transparent, womb-like device for four weeks after birth, The Guardian reported.
Researchers said the so-called "artificial womb" could save the lives of babies born so early that they cannot breathe, feed or fight infection without medical help.
Alan Flake, a fetal surgeon at CHOP and lead author, said their proposed system could act as a bridge between the mother's womb and the outside world for babies born at between 23 to 28 weeks gestation.
"If we can support growth and organ maturation for only a few weeks, we can dramatically improve outcomes for extremely premature babies," he said.
Although a number of researchers are hailing what one doctor called a "technological miracle," others are raising ethical issues, including questions on whether it would ever be acceptable to test the device on humans, according to NPR.
Dena Davis, a bioethicist at Lehigh University, said "there are all kinds of possibilities for stress and pain" for the premature babies that would be placed inside the device "with not, at the beginning, a whole lot of likelihood for success."
Even if the device works, Davis worries about whether the system could blur the line between a fetus and a baby.
"Up to now, we've been either born or not born. This would be halfway born, or something like that. Think about that in terms of our abortion politics," she said.
Scott Gelfand, a bioethicist at Oklahoma State University, said there's also the risk that such a device could be used coercively. States could theoretically require women getting abortions to put their fetuses into artificial wombs, he said.
Barbara Katz Rothman, a sociologist at the City University of New York, said more effort should be done to prevent premature births than on inventing machines to raise babies.
"The problem is a baby raised in a machine is denied a human connection," Rothman said. "I think that's a scary, tragic thing."
