Forget what you think you know about the birds and the bees. In the future, men may be able to create a child without needing a woman for the egg or even to carry the fetus to term. Women may be able to hit snooze on their biological clocks and put off having children till late in life, as in, their 50s, 60s, or perhaps beyond. And fertility problems which today are cause for expensive, time consuming, and sometimes unsuccessful treatments will be a thing of the past.
Does this sound more like science fiction than fact? Well, The Guardian reports that researchers at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge have created “primitive forms of artificial sperm and eggs” out of adult skin cells. The new sex cells are genetic matches of the skin tissue, which means that couples suffering from fertility issues may not have to rely on donor eggs or sperm, they may be able to use this technique to have biological offspring of their own. More work in the lab will be needed to refine the procedure, and UK law, which currently prohibits the use of artificial sperm and eggs in infertility treatment, will have to be revised, but scientists are hopeful.
What’s more, Azim Surani, who led the work at the Gurdon Institute, says that by stripping the Y chromosome from a man’s skin cell it would be theoretically possible to make an egg that has the man’s genetic material. Now, we’re talking about a BIG theoretical here: as Surani told The Guardian, this is “a question for another time.” Current technology suggests that it’s likely, but much more experimentation will be needed before we know for sure. (Creating sperm from a woman’s skin seems less possible, because it would require adding, not subtracting, a chromosome.)
The consequences of such a procedure, were it to work, would be staggering. Two men could, if they wanted, create a child that would be both of their biological offspring. Taking this even further into the realm of speculation, The Daily Beast reports that artificial womb technology — technically called “ectogenesis” — has been in development for over ten years. Goat embryos have been successfully carried to term in artificial wombs, and human embryos have survived in them for ten days, the limit to which our current laws allow. In theory, then, two men could create a child together and see it born without a woman ever being involved. But guys, don’t start planning out your maternity outfits just yet. Surani told The Daily Beast that, “this work is at a very early stage and there is much basic work needed first before even contemplating [that] possibility.”
This procedure could have implications for women as well. The process of producing viable egg cells from skin tissue can happen relatively quickly — in five to six days — and, compared to a process like harvesting and freezing eggs, it’s painless and inexpensive. So a post-menopausal woman could, if she decided to have kids, visit a lab to have a viable egg created and then birthed via artificial wombs. Even a woman in her late 30s or early 40s might decide to have new eggs created, as the process in effect rewinds the clock, producing eggs like the ones she was born with, thereby reducing the risk of birth defects. In short, women will have much greater choice over when they want to have a child, and their bodies could be less involved in the process of producing one. This is, as Samantha Allen smartly points out on The Daily Beast, more like how a man participates in reproduction.
What might life be like in a society where reproduction is freed from women’s biology? When two men can create a new life without any ovary or uterus involved, and where women can decide at any age to become mothers, no matter their physical condition? It’s easy to imagine debates ranging about “natural” versus “synthetic” child production similar to the ones today around breast versus bottle feeding, or home-birthing versus hospital stays. Perhaps, finally, we’ll see robust pregnancy and family leave policies becoming the norm instead of the exception; or maybe the opposite will happen, with office culture encouraging workers to let a lab handle the birth. Could pregnancy one day seem old fashioned? It’s fascinating to think about.
One thing seems for sure, though. At some point in the not-so-distant future, infertility will be a thing of the past. And humanity will gain increasing control over conditions — disease, reproduction, even pregnancy — that today we are only able to partially regulate. I think this brave new world sounds exciting. What’s your take?
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