Posted on 06/21/2006 3:47:43 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Womb transplants in humans should be possible within five years, say scientists in Sweden ... The procedure would allow women who have functioning ovaries but no womb to carry their own children, and the researchers say they have already been contacted by hundreds of women who are interested in having such a transplant.
There are several reasons why a woman can lack a uterus. Some, with a condition called Rokitansky syndrome, are born without a vagina or a uterus. Others can lose their womb, for example through cervical cancer, or if the organ ruptures during childbirth. The only current way such patients can have a child is if another woman carries the baby.
Mats Brannstrom and his colleagues at Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg ...[are] hopeful that human womb transplants will be possible in five years.
Although wombs could be transplanted from dead donors, Brannstrom says the ideal situation would be for a woman to receive the organ from her older sister or mother, to minimize the problem of immune rejection. Cases in which women in their 60s who have given birth after egg donation suggest that womb function does not deteriorate significantly with age. The recipient would have eggs harvested for in vitro fertilization (IVF) before the transplant; the eggs would then be fertilized and the embryos frozen, to be implanted after the womb transplant.
...
Although Brannstrom acknowledges that there may be concerns (some might find it unpalatable that a woman could carry her baby in the same womb that her mother used to carry her, for example) he doesn't think that it raises significant ethical issues compared with procedures such as egg or sperm donation. "It's not transmission of genetic material," he says. "It's just lending your uterus out."
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
But it seems to me that if the pregnancy were achieved by ordinary marital intercourse, then under common-sense ethical conditions (genuine medical need, full knowledge, free consent) I really don't see any problem with a womb trnasplant.
If there is a need to meddle in someone else's medical/procreational decisions (a gigantic if) the question is the same as posed to those considering abortion -- what's the matter with adoption?
Would this be considered womb service?
Can you request a womb with a view?
If you can't afford to buy, look for a womb to rent.
[Thanks a lot! You're a great crowd! Don't forget to tip your server!]
This isn't for the girls, dahlin'.
This is for the boys.
"Some, with a condition called Rokitansky syndrome, are born without a vagina or a uterus."
Hmm - men are born without uteruses or vaginas...
What about just accepting certain things? THe world isn't perfect, I don't get to have everything I want, I didn't get a pony when I was a kid, etc.
DISCUSSION ABOUT:
Womb transplants (Women who lack a functioning womb could get replacement.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be included in or removed from the MORAL ABSOLUTES PINGLIST, please FReepMail wagglebee.
This may come as good news to the radical feminists who want men to share gestational responsibilities with women. Inter-sex transplants may be around the corner.
Organ transplants require strong anti-rejection drugs. Doctors don't recommend even taking OTC pain relievers when you're pregnant because fo risk to the baby. What do they think these anti-rejection drugs are going to do?
That's an important point, and one not addressed in the article. I know I didn't even dare take a nasal decongestant when I was pregnant.
Another point: I suppose that until they "perfect" the womb-transplant process, they'd have a lot of failures. Thus exposing both child and mother to unnecessary risks. An adult can assume risks for sufficiently good reasons ---- but can you impose such risks on a child under these circumstances? As a previous poster asked, why not just a adopt a child?
Anybody want to comment on the ethics here?
With the millions of starving orphans in the world who could use a good home.... I understand the desire to have your own children, but sometimes it doesn't happen. Life ISN'T fair.
Where?
Wrong thread. My bad!
Is this a real thing? Can utarus replacement really be done?
Lol
I saw gcruse....remembered him as social liberal south basherong banned
Wondered how he got back and failed to note date
Womb enhancement sounds good at first glance..fwiw
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.