#1222 Teresa Baron: The Artificial Womb on Trial

Mar 2, 2026

Teresa Baron, Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham specializing in reproductive ethics and parenthood, explores artificial womb technology and its ethical terrain. She explains current research versus sci‑fi visions. Short discussions cover animal trials, partial versus complete ectogenesis, the Convergence Argument, comparisons with IVF and mitochondrial transfer, and whether creating humans for research can ever be justified.

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ANECDOTE

How Animal Ectogestation Trials Are Run

Animal trials take fetal sheep, goats, or pigs from pregnancies and maintain fetal physiology in an artificial support system.
Recent trials show survival for days or weeks and successful weaning to neonatal care, but species differences complicate human translation.

INSIGHT

Complete Ectogenesis Remains Unachieved

Complete ectogenesis (embryo-to-baby outside body) has not been achieved in mammals and remains far off.
Work with mice shows early organogenesis in vitro, but no mammalian species has been gestated fully outside the body.

INSIGHT

Human Trials Are Pending And Ethically Scrutinised

No human ectogestation trials approved yet; teams like CHOP applied but were told to address ethical concerns.
Competition between few teams creates a race dynamic that may incentivize rushing into human trials.

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Dr. Teresa Baron is an Assistant Professor at Nottingham University working on reproductive ethics and philosophy of parenthood. She is the author of The Philosopher's Guide to Parenthood, Philosophy of the Family: Ethics, Identity and Responsibility (with Dr. Christopher Cowley), and The Artificial Womb on Trial. She is currently writing on the ethics of ectogenic research and editing a new Handbook of Philosophy and the Family for Routledge.

In this episode, we focus on The Artificial Womb on Trial. We talk about what artificial womb technology is and the ethical questions it raises. We discuss arguments for and against developing this kind of technology. We discuss the Convergence Argument. We talk about trials with animals, partial and complete ectogenesis, and how it compares to technologies like in vitro fertilization and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transfer. Finally, we discuss whether it would ever be ethical to bring children into the world for the purposes of research, and the ethics of procreation.

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