When will Artificial Wombs be available ? - Future is almost Here [See Video]

You have certainly seen gigantic, Matrix-like facilities with 30,000 pods or artificial wombs that produce human infants on mechanised pods in a number of science fiction films. What if this happened in the real world? On the EctoLife YouTube channel, the idea for the first artificial womb facility in the world was unveiled. It goes without saying that it has impressed and alarmed several online users. 

A biotechnologist with a base in Berlin named Hashem Al-Ghaili produced the Concept Video. According to the video, the facility will be able to produce 30,000 babies annually. The production process will be based on more than 50 years of innovative scientific research carried out by researchers around the world. 

What is Artificial Womb ? 

An artificial womb is a synthetic bag that enables extracorporeal pregnancy by allowing the development of the foetus outside the body of an organism that would then carry it to term. 

Why Artificial Womb is needed ? 

While some women regard pregnancy and labour to be happy, natural, and rewarding experiences, others find themselves recoiling in dread at the physical rigours of carrying and supporting a child in their womb and even more so at the potential violence of childbirth. 

Regardless of how one feels about the "naturalness" of pregnancy, there is no denying that the introduction of artificial womb technology would fundamentally alter the discussion. Some of the promising points includes, 

• Artificial Womb can help women who are prone to risky pregnancies to transfer the foetus to an mechanised man made womb. 
• Artificial Womb can help foetuses which are at risk of premature birth to complete their development as required. 
• Artificial womb can help to eliminate a crucial condition that currently ensures women’s oppression by neutralising the heavily gendered process of reproduction. 
• Artificial Womb can help Women who are infertile for medical or social reasons may be able to conceive using this technology. 
• Artificial Womb can help to concieve a child to women who are transsexual, born without uteruses. 
• Artificial Womb can help who have lost their uteruses due to cancer, some disease, trauma, or other medical issues to conceive. 
• Artificial Womb can also help to have child to homosexual men and single men to become parents without a surrogacy. 

Who created the first Artificial Womb ? 

Midway through the 20th century, Emanuel M. Greenberg, a physician and inventor from New York, set out to find a solution to the issue of premature newborns who were born before their organs were ready to support them. He created blueprints for an artificial system to keep these preemies alive for long enough for them to survive on their own in the 1950s (though there is no concrete evidence that any attempt was made to build it). Greenberg's innovation would keep the infant warm, oxygenated, absorbing nourishment, and eliminating waste, similar to existing incubators. But even with the placenta and umbilical cord now attached to the device, a newborn placed in his artificial womb would still have them. 

A Rube Goldberg-esque picture and a detailed explanation of how each component of Greenberg's machine would work were included in the patent application he submitted for his idea in 1954. The following year, he got the patent. 

When will Artificial Wombs be available ? 

A producer and director with a background in molecular biology, Hashem introduced the idea of ectolife to millions of people. However, he goes on to say that he used his "experience in science and technology to generate brand-new concepts to anticipate the future" in later statements on his website. While it appears that a lot of online viewers mistook his most recent video for an actual advertisement. Ectolife is only a work of fiction. But in reality, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's medical staff is in discussions with the FDA to start testing artificial wombs on human embryos possibly within the next two years. Within ten years, completely functional artificial wombs might be available if those clinical trials are successful. Carlo Bulletti, a doctor at Yale University, reported to Vice. 

Is Artificial Womb safe ? 

Artificial wombs, which are currently only theoretically possible, will be a very potent new technology. However, scientists are doing studies on Artificial Womb technology in all of its facets. If a human foetus could be carried to term in a synthetic uterus, there would be many uses for this technology. Couples from all around the world would have a plethora of new options. 

How much will an Artificial Womb would cost in India ? 

It is very likely that many women will continue to give birth naturally, especially at first. The initial cost of artificial wombs will be high. Indians will continue to employ the appeal to nature fallacy to assert that natural means better even if they are widely accessible, less expensive, and safer. In addition, there are those who have religious objections, and the men who administer those religions will compel women to bear children. Therefore, even if artificial wombs become secure and affordable, you'll still find people in India using natural pregnancy for selfish motives. 

How will it benefit womens around the world ? 

The development of an artificial womb would relieve women from the risks of pregnancy and lead to a more equitable division of "labour," allowing them to work and pursue interests and desires unrelated to their reproductive responsibilities throughout the whole gestation period. Men will also receive a crucial tool that will enable them, if they so desire, to bear a child solely on their own.

However, a completely working mechanical womb will definitely raise brand-new moral conundrums, some of which we might not be prepared to address. But, it might at least provide answers to today's insoluble disparities.