Glosswitch on Artificial Wombs

[TheWeeWitch]

"In this sense, the arrival of the artificial womb means neither women’s end nor our liberation. It’s just another twist in the story of our exploitation and our resistance. I don’t think the future’s any darker than the present. It’s understanding what is done to us, and by whom, that enables us to see the light."

👏
Thank you Glosswitch.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2017/05/artificial-wombs-are-only-three-years-away-how-scared-should-women-be

[thecraftyfox]

Artificial ovaries sure, but they still need ovum to be supplied.

My concern with artificial wombs is how this could play out with pro-life politics. If women "only" have to carry the foetus to 20-25 weeks and then it could be transferred, would this become a way to force women to continue pregnancies? With a subsequent claim from the state for medical fees and child maintenance?

[ChocChocPorridge]

I can tell you right now as a research student that within the next decade artificial eggs both male and female

That I'm not so sure of - and neither are the scientists that developed those mouse eggs - they themselves said that human eggs take much longer to mature - about 10 years - and so they're not sure how that would work with artificially created ones (and it's going to take them a long time to discover)

[Jamescv]

10 years to mature the eggs is nothing in the practical sense people wanting children would just have to donate the skin cells to make the eggs earlier and since everything will be artificial there will be no biological clock the child could even start 20 years after you donated the material needed artificial technology doesn't​ age like the biological alternative. On top of that with stem cells and the ability to reengineer scientist could find a way to produce mature human eggs which they probably will but as of right now the first option is viable the scientist are speculating they don't know if the artificially​ created human eggs will need to mature and how long they need to start human trials to find out.

[DJBaggySmalls]

AssassinatedBeauty No you didn't misunderstand; all cells need mitochondrial DNA.

[ExtremelyMadCatLady]

our brave new world which has such people in it

[ExtremelyMadCatLady]

obvious i know

[Jamescv]

I just want to know why some of you feel like men will eradicate women? Both genders need reproductive freedom

[ChocChocPorridge]

I just want to know why some of you feel like men will eradicate women? Both genders need reproductive freedom

History, personal experience, the way the world is now? How many millions of female foetuses are aborted by people who want a boy? Baby girls killed or left to starve? Why wouldn't we think that given the chance, men would seek to eradicate us (or more likely reduce our numbers and imprison us)? They already do that in many places and just lack the technology to complete the job!

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

The UN estimates that there are approximately 200 million women missing from the world due to femicide.

[VestalVirgin]

The UN estimates that there are approximately 200 million women missing from the world due to femicide

Is that including the abortion of female fetuses in China and India? (And probably secretly everywhere else, too) Or just men murdering women and girls?

[Effic]

I'm with you Jamescv - I can't see an artificial womb as an attempt to eradicate women anymore than sperm donation & ivf is an attempt to eradicated men.
This would mean total reproductive freedom for women; the chance for women to have a babies safe from all the complications that pregnancy brings, no more deaths in child birth or hideous life long injuries from giving birth. Most importantly, the opportunity to truly share parental leave once the baby is born with no need to break your career in order to have children. It would be the most important step forward for women of all time!

[AssassinatedBeauty]

The artificial womb is one aspect but the idea of creating a viable egg from male stem cells (therefore not needing any contribution from a woman) is the part that seems open to abuse. It's like all technological advances, the idea is developed for positive or neutral reasons, but there's always the possibility of technology being (ab)used for a purpose that wasn't intended or imagined.

Historically, and currently, there are men in this world who treat women appallingly because they can and because it suits them. If it ever becomes possible and easy for men to reproduce without women then I can see that some of those men might use that to continue to treat women appallingly.

There's a much quicker way to allow women to share parental leave and not have their careers suffer, instead of waiting for this supposed technological utopia! But we seem to struggle to implement the necessary laws and practices to enable that to happen.

[Xenophile]

But Effic, how much would it cost do you think to free up all these women? Especially in the light of your views of the NHS, are you saying that only extremely rich women should have all this lovely freedom from risk? Or that women as a group entire should?

[VestalVirgin]

Men have more money than women.

If it is a question of money, those artificial wombs will be used by men, men, men.

They will certainly not be used by women as a choice. Men might pay for their wives to access this so they can continue to fuck them.

But some men might be of the opinion that "natural is better" and not pay for their wives having access to it.

Technology can not bring liberation to women when it is controlled by men. Simple as that.

[Jamescv]

This technology is as much about men as it is about women.men need to be able to have the choice to reproduce as well, by themselves it has to be a viable option they can't be limited by they biology women have had this option since the beginning of our species this will add to equality. Artificial womb are a neutral technology there is nothing to be afraid of.

[ChocChocPorridge]

Artificial womb are a neutral technology there is nothing to be afraid of.

I don't think you've read the responses - it's not the wombs that are the problem here, it's that historically, whenever there's progress, some man finds a way to use it against women.

women have had this option since the beginning of our species

Not quite. Up until recently, women didn't have an option at all - it was pretty much obligatory. Plenty of women had kid after kid until they hit menopause or died. Then their husbands got themselves a new wife to look after the kids (and possibly have some more), or had their daughters look after them.

There's plenty of ways women have been abused through their ability to have kids, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see artificial wombs and artificially made eggs put to horrific purposes too.