Science Fiction and the Ethics of Artificial Wombs: Reproductive Futures (Reproductive Ethics: Critical Perspectives)

Ectogenesis, or artificial wombs, is not yet a reality. But is it the future? In this revolutionary book, Evie Kendal explores the potential that ectogenesis has to promote sexual equality in human reproduction, and the role science fiction plays in imagining possible futures where this technology is realised. Fictional representations of ectogenesis are typically used in bioethics to support techno-conservative views of reproduction, conflating the potential issues associated with this technology with other controversial practices, such as human cloning and genetic engineering. Arguing against this dominant trend from a liberal feminist perspective, and placing ectogestation within the rich history of debate in the area, this interdisciplinary volumeexamines the numerous benefits that growing a foetus in an artificial environment could bring in saving women from the sole burden of reproduction. Further considering the complex dynamic between ectogenesis and science fiction, Kendal not only applies bioethical reasoning to ectogenesis but to its representation in literature and film, and the subsequent use of such media in the bioethical discourse.