Womb Transplants? A New Bioethics Question for Everyday Christians

on March 6, 2014

On March 3rd, the Associated Press released an important bit of science news. AP medical writer Maria Cheng reported, “A Swedish doctor says four women who received transplanted wombs have had embryos transferred into them in an attempt to get pregnant.” The story reveals that there were nine women who received donated wombs since 2012, two of which had to have the wombs removed due to complications. While four have received embryos, three are not quite ready yet according to Dr. Mats Brannstrom. This is all part of an experimental process to see if women can use their own in vitro fertilized eggs and carry the resulting infant to term.

“Brannstrom predicted that three or four of the seven women might successfully give birth,” Cheng notes. The doctor predicted, “One or two more will perhaps get pregnant and miscarry, and one or two won’t be able to get pregnant.” “There have been two previous attempts to transplant a womb – in Turkey and Saudi Arabia – but both failed to produce babies,” Cheng goes on to say, “Doctors in Britain and Hungary also are planning similar operations, but using wombs from women who had just died.”

That last line I quoted exposes something important: there is a race for medical advancement that is resulting in tremendous technological and biological breakthroughs. This high-velocity process is yielding fruit at a dizzying pace–one that squeezes out time for moral reflection. But Christians–regardless of station–need to realize that complicated ethical questions are knocking on their front door and will soon knock down the gate altogether.

As is often the case with technology, there are opportunities and liabilities in this particular instance. In terms of advantages, maybe these scientific advancements could help the pro-life cause in the long-run. Now more women can save and carry “unwanted” embryos. Moreover, we can expect to see further improvements for embryo transfer in coming years. “We knew it was a matter of time until embryo transfers began to be successful,” a friend of mine wrote to me, “This raises a very interesting situation for those with ‘unwanted’ pregnancies: A woman will soon be able to ‘terminate’ her pregnancy without destroying her embryo. Will that stop the feticide holocaust that we now have?”

Of course, the current process they are inventing right now seems to be cost prohibitive when contrasted with the convenient murder of abortion. However, if embryo transfers do become cheaper and easier, this new technology in womb transplants seems promising. Again, this is all speculation. Right now, the womb transplant technology seems geared toward infertile couples who want to carry their own biological children to term. After all, I cannot see this kind of procedure as a high priority goal for other animals like horses or cattle–there’s a human desire at work here. The long-term effects, factors, and ancillary lessons from this new technique remain unknown.

On the other hand, Christians are confronted with what IS known: medical communities in various countries are playing somewhat fast and loose with babies’ lives as they experiment on embryos and fertility technology. Look again at the quotes in the report–miscarriages and botched experiments are mentioned and factually conveyed without ethical qualms. This is troubling on many levels. The cavalier attitude toward embryos exposes the incredibly high human cost we are willing to pay for “progress.” It also seems to expose a willingness to sacrifice the helpless, young, and vulnerable for the ambitions of the present generation. Finally (and many Christians feel this way), such activities smack of “playing God.” Believers are tempted to mention the “good old fashioned way” of marriage, children, and adoption for the offspring of those who cannot or will not take responsibility. But this fails to meet the actual case at hand: womb transplants and the collateral damage of their development. It’s happening now, and belly-aching in the spirit of nostalgia won’t offer a coherent answer to this quandary of life and medicine.

In response, Christians need to be thinking on the right way to view and judge technological innovation and its impact on human life. Religious believers should realize that keeping abreast of these affairs is a worthy endeavor and may be an incredible help in the confusing years ahead. This is not just the stuff of professional ethicists and elites; now Christians will find friends and neighbors affected by these technologies. The times ahead promise only to become more complex as the scientific community and its financial backers continue to seek new medical frontiers.

h/t Sam M.

  1. Comment by laverl09 on March 11, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    Thank you for opening a dialogue that needs a lot of attention. As in all ethical dilemmas, this one has its pros and cons as you pointed out. Where do we place our emphasis? On the childless parents? On the “experimental” fetus? On scientific progress? On steering away from “playing god”?
    For millennia we have been faced with the issue of faith versus medicine. How much does man do before he asks God for help?
    The notorious Old Testament patriarchs Abraham and Jacob used surrogates to populate their families and those descendants have made and are still making a huge impact on world history.
    What if Ishmael and Joseph’s jealous brothers had never been born? Maybe the Israelites’ slavery in Egypt would have never happened or maybe the continuing strife in the mideast would have been avoided–or not. Do we change God’s plans for us with our foibles, or does God use our foibles, whatever they may be, to carry out his plans anyway?
    To me, it’s not “either-or”, it’s a cooperation, as much as possible, with God. But then how much of this decision is left up to the individual and how much is the responsibility of the community?
    Again, a sensible cooperation is necessary.
    THIS is why I appreciated your approach to this issue. It is going to continue to need a lot of dialogue, as well as individual and community involvement.

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