Reproductive Ethics: Critical Perspectives – serie

This open access book explores the interplay between individual and collective procreative interests against the background of cutting-edge developments in reproductive science.Reproductive technologies have made possible a range of novel practices that challenge some of our most fundamental assumptions about parenthood and the family. Gametes have been collected from dying or deceased individuals to enable their spouses or parents to create children. Children have undergone invasive fertility preservation interventions at their parents’ request. Mothers have donated their wombs to their daughters. Meanwhile, new scientific discoveries in epigenetics and microbiomics are reshaping our understanding of biological connections.The Ethics of Human Reproduction and the Family brings together philosophers and social scientists to examine these challenges. Contributors explore, among others, the ethics of posthumous reproduction, uterus transplantation, intrafamilial adoption, conflicts between women’s interests and state policies, and the implications of postgenomic science for genetic and social kinship.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation.

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 volume examines 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. As a result, she highlights several problems with the current methods of engagement with science fiction in bioethics. Proposing alternatives, Kendal argues that new methods should capitalise on science fiction’s ability to both communicate biotechnical change and explore how to infiltrate emerging technologies into society.With extended case studies, including Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction and the Ethics of Artificial Wombs brings together bioethics, philosophy, feminist thought, and literary theory to tackle urgent questions about how we think about and imagine this new way of creating human life.

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 volume examines 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. As a result, she highlights several problems with the current methods of engagement with science fiction in bioethics. Proposing alternatives, Kendal argues that new methods should capitalise on science fiction's ability to both communicate biotechnical change and explore how to infiltrate emerging technologies into society. With extended case studies, including Dawn by Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction and the Ethics of Artificial Wombs brings together bioethics, philosophy, feminist thought, and literary theory to tackle urgent questions about how we think about and imagine this new way of creating human life.