The Matrix comes: growing children with the help of artificial uterus may be legalized in Ukraine

Artificial uterus to replace live women: Ukraine considers the legalization of “children in vitro”

Children fully grown by artificial means, that is, outside the mother’s body may become a reality very soon. And it will happen in Ukraine if the deputies support the bill “On ectogenesis” (http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=66141) already registered in parliament and submitted to the relevant committee. This legislation proposes to regulate the issues of children’s presence born with the help of reproductive technologies in an artificial environment. Science already knows cases when animals, in particular, lamb, were successfully raised in artificial womb. Ukraine, however, aims higher: not just promoting the newest reproductive technologies, but also recognizing a married couple whose child will be raised through ectogenesis (that is, outside the mother’s body) as full-fledged parents.

For those unaware, ectogenesis is the process of human embryo development outside the female uterus. World science suggests that it will become possible to completely replace the natural bearing of babies with an artificial uterus in 25 years. The leaders in the field of reproductive technology and genetic engineering are the United States and the United Kingdom. However, current legislation in these advanced countries tightly regulates conducting experiments with human embryos. Along with this, the legal status of human embryo is not fully developed, both internationally and in Ukraine. If the bill initiated by MP Vitaliy Kupriy is passed and supported by parliamentarians, Ukraine (which has already been awarded the status of one of the world leaders in infertility treatment using assisted reproductive technologies) will become the first country in the world where far-fetched babies growing on the garlands of the Matrix farm can become a reality.

Bioengineering in the world: from legality to morality

How does this field develop in the world? Just two years ago, thanks to American bioengineers, the world saw a lamb, which was raised in artificial womb. This artificial womb called Biobag was created by scientific-research team from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. All the lambs survived and in a month formed healthy organs: and the head of the experiment declared his readiness to create an artificial uterus for human babies. Biobag is to be tested in humans 3 years after that, that is, in 2020. However, how far such experiments can go without violating the law, not to mention the morality and reaction of society?

The author of the Ukrainian bill focuses on the fact that now the development of ectogenesis technologies is hampered by the generally accepted global legislative framework. Indeed, this legislation, adopted in the late 70s in the United States and Britain, declares that human embryos should not be grown for any purpose in vitro (that is, outside the body) for more than 14 days after the moment of fertilization. That is, after two weeks of research, the embryo should be destroyed.

Given this, recent assumptions that the rule may be revised, that is, the moral status of the human embryo and legality of the use and destruction of embryos in research may be changed, caused excitement in the communities of science, ethics, and politics around the world. The most negative response regarding the cultivation of embryos comes from representatives of various world religions, primarily Christian ones. According to them, scientists violate the mechanisms that God created by artificially creating new lives.
At that, the head of the Catholic Church (this was said by Pope John Paul II) and the leader of one of the Tibetan Buddhism schools, Dalai Lama, stated that if bioengineering technologies can benefit a particular person or heal the disease, then they fully justified.

Ectogenesis Ukrainian-style: what does the bill offer?

The news of the bill “On ectogenesis” registration in the Verkhovna Rada has already caused a resonance in Ukraine: well-known (http://www.aif.ua/society/law/v_ukraine_predlagayut_vnesti_izmeneniya_v_opredelenie_materinstva_i_otcovstva) online media (https://ubr.ua/ukraine-and-world/society/v-ukraine-khotjat-lehalizovat-vyrashchivanie-detej-v-probirke-3884447) publish it thick and fast. The author of the bill also provides a strong justification for the need to amend the Family Code of Ukraine. This is a solution to one of the world’s greatest problems – infertility, as well as factors arising from the need to treat this disease. The explanatory note to the bill No. 10427 states that about 50 million couples worldwide suffer from infertility. Thanks to the powerful development of assisted reproductive technologies, Ukraine has already been awarded the status of one of the world leaders in infertility treatment. However, methods of infertility treatment are in constant development: and one of them, on the development of which scientists spend greatest efforts today, is the method of ectogenesis.

Modern technologies, such as IVF (in vitro fertilization), endometrial transplantation, egg donation, and mitochondrial donation, etc., give clear expectations that the ectogenesis method can have positive results. Despite the hype around the topic of embryo cultivation, vocal critics of these technologies ignore one important moment for the moral and ethical aspects of society. Ectogenesis will allow solving the problem, which also causes a significant public outcry, namely ensuring the rights of women acting as surrogate mothers. Since with the development of ectogenesis, the need to use the surrogacy method will disappear altogether. Then the question of presence or absence of women exploitation who act as surrogate mothers will be resolved forever.

Now the Family Code of Ukraine determines only the origin of children born as a result of using the assisted reproductive technologies but does not regulate the origin of children born as a result of using the ectogenesis method. Therefore, for developers of the bill, the most convenient approach is the one that applies to the definition of paternity and in respect of children born through human embryo transfer to the body of another woman. The bill suggests that a married couple has the right to be called the parents of a child grown using ectogenesis technology with the condition that at least one of the cells that has been used in fertilization belongs to one of them (partners – husband or wife).

Will Ukraine become the first country to change the status of human embryo, having crossed the legislative regulations of such developed countries as the United Kingdom and the United States? If MPs approve the bill, we have a chance not only to become the center of scientific tourism but to influence world bioengineering. Only time will tell how it will turn out.