Re: Exowombs

From: Natasha Vita-More (natasha@natasha.cc)
Date: Sat Feb 16 2002 - 14:38:14 MST


At 03:38 PM 2/16/02 +1100, Damien wrote:

>Uh-oh. Natasha, I think someone must be doing it wrong. Against your leg is
>*close*, but not quite there yet. (...)

Oh my.

Seriously though, an "exowomb" (not to be confused with an exo womb,
ectopic pregnancy) with gestation in artificial wombs outside the human
body will become a highly respectable alternative. Health insurance
companies could actually insist that women opt for the artificial way.
Meanwhile, millions of females go through pregnancy with sapience.

I think that we might not view pregnancy as bovine if we are emotionally
attached to the person who is pregnant and have great love for the unborn
child. I think this is probably magnified if we experience life
threatening situations which would affect the survival of the mother and
child, and if we were to deliver the child from the birth canal and give
him or her its first breaths of oxygen.

Removing this ritual from humanity offers some consequences.

Imagine if a couple of several individuals decide to produce offspring and
it is produced without sexual intercourse and developed in an artificial
exowomb. In the long run, how might exowombing and mosaic birthing affect
the biological relationship to the offspring and how might this affect the
relationship of the people involved?

Eventually biological hereditarianism will become unacceptable.

Natasha

Natasha Vita-More

Founder, Transhumanist Arts
Art Director, Digital Design

http://www.natasha.cc http://www.extropic-art.com http://www.transhuman.org

"I'd rather be inebriated on a classic life than a 1996 classic Merlot."



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 13:37:39 MST