Comments on: Ectogenesis Questions

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:33:48 +0000

Floyd, I'm sure the rate of unplanned, unwanted ectogenetic pregnancies would be huge!

What about when the parents discover that their little mass of baby cells will eventually have Down Syndrome or Autism? What if it will be severely physically or mentally handicapped?

By: Little Miss Attila

Little Miss Attila — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:01:33 +0000

There Is a Romance to the Idea of Being Pregnant....

And there's a huge desire for those who contemplate starting families, to control factors surrounding an embryo/infant's nutritional development. But once you get rid of the stigma, bring the price down a few grand, perfect the nutritional issue (the...

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:57:37 +0000

You guys probably all believe in the possibility of brain transplants as well, huh?

By: William d'Inger

William d'Inger — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:45:20 +0000

What happens when a rich Madonna type decides to have 191 ectos at the same time using a sperm donor from each of the countries in the UN? Actually there are 192 UN nations, but a Madonna type would never want another US child to further pollute the world.

By: William d'Inger

William d'Inger — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:23:36 +0000

Let one hot Hollywood sex starlet do it to preserve her girlish figure, and there'll be a million ecto babies in the pipeline before the week is out.

By: Floyd

Floyd — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:01:29 +0000

Dutchgirl;
When writing my list, your priorities are not relevant.

By: Grewgills

Grewgills — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:34:40 +0000

I think the most interesting questions surrounding this procedure involve the developing fetus. How will hormone delivery be optimized? What sounds will the fetus be exposed to? (recordings of the parents? generalized body cavity recordings? constant motor hum?) In short, how will the environment be created, optimized, and personalized for the physical, mental, and emotional health of each eventual child?

Re: abortion
I think with such a procedure abortions would be orders of magnitude less common than for traditional pregnancy (on par with surrogate parent abortions) so concern on this front is for now purely academic, though it would likely be used as test ground for those who want to expand fetal rights.
As for whose decision it would be, I would guess that it would determined by contract with the default position being agreement by both parents.

By: Dutchgirl

Dutchgirl — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:26:42 +0000

"since the procedure is hypothetical we'll never know."

exactly, hence the snarkyness. Of all the intersesting questions to be raised by the possibility of ectogenesis, the abortion question is not on the top my list.

By: Floyd

Floyd — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:57:52 +0000

Dutchgirl;
You have completely failed to address any of my points, while thinking you have trumped them.[lol]
Your point has merit,but since the procedure is hypothetical we'll never know.
However,an example might be the typical lack of commitment in modern relationships which could lead to dissolving the relationship mid-ectopregnancy.

By: Gollum

Gollum — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:53:36 +0000

Dutchgirl, not every pregnancy that ends up terminated is unwanted at the start. People change; life circumstances change. Floyd's question, while a little snarky, raises an interesting point. What would happen to a baby-in-progress when the parents no longer want it? Shouldn't they just be able to turn off the incubator at some time prior to, say, six months? If not, why not? When would the state's interest in the developing baby begin? Fertilization? Placement in the incubator? "Viability?" Would one parent alone be able to end the incubation? It's thought provoking to take whatever answers you come up with to these questions and compare them to the answers you get when a living mother is involved.

By: Dutchgirl

Dutchgirl — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:17:31 +0000

Floyd, I'm sure the rate of unplanned, unwanted ectogenetic pregnancies would be huge! Oh, Billy, we only went to the lab twenty times to harvest eggs and sperm and set up the payment plan, and now I'm pregnant! I want an abortion!

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:06:51 +0000

Wow, what a "what-if"! And what if we could live in "The Jetson's" world? Or become invisible at will? Or read minds? Surely there are enough real existential-type questions in the world that we don't have to start considering impossibilities? Oh wait!-is this the Star Trek channel?

By: Floyd

Floyd — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:30:43 +0000

What would this do to gender rights?
Say in the field of terminating the "pregnancy" for example?
Of who's body would it simply be a disposable part?