Fertility treatment

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Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Still My Body, My Choice
Intelligence Is The New Fertility Treatment

Teddies In Space • Australia Allows Singles & Lesbians A Shot At Fertility

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BytheSea
10/23/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
@pumpkinseed: Would it be unrealistic for people to try adoption first

No it ... wait ... your syntax is confusing. Yes, it would be unrealistic, is the way to say it.

People who are really fixated on having their own baby have to go through a long journey to accept changing their expectations. You can't just switch it on and off.

Your thoughts on this issue are so mainstream they're stereotypical.
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Edited by BytheSea at 10/23/09 12:14 AM BytheSea was starred BytheSea was unstarred

BytheSea
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Why the hell are we calling it a "womb"?? Are we transplanting organs IN THE BIBLE? It's a goddamn heart transplant for the ladyparts, people, it's not a big deal.

How come every time science comes up with something useful and good for millions of people, some reporter has to cry waily waily, we're playing god - nay, the devil!! #wombtransplant
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BytheSea
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
firefox keeps crashing when i post
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Edited by BytheSea at 10/22/09 11:49 PM BytheSea was starred BytheSea was unstarred

Athenia
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
"A transplant could allow a woman to carry a child if she was born without a womb "

Does that mean MEN can have babies now?!?!

*goes to watch Junior* #wombtransplant
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I_can_still_pitch
10/22/09

@Athenia: Ha! I came i here to ask the same thing. I wonder... #wombtransplant
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thesciencegirl
10/22/09

@Athenia: I'm guessing no. There's a whole lot more to pergnancy than just the uterus (precise hormonal changes, blood vessels, pelvic structure, etc). #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Perhaps my views are a bit controversial on this, but I'm going to lay them out anyway.

A. ADOPT. There are so many children on this planet that need loving homes! If you can't easily get pregnant, why put yourself through the risk of an extremely invasive and dangerous organ transplant surgery? Why bring more babies onto this earth? Do you go to the shelter to adopt a puppy or a breeder or puppy mill? (If the latter two, ugh...just ugh). And don't even say "well, a baby is not the same as a puppy." I know that. But I don't think that one life is worth more than another, regardless. That would be speciesism--just like sexism, racism, etc.

B. ANIMAL TESTING. for real? It is not the rabbit's fault that some women cannot get pregnant. It is not a rat's fault that we pollute our water systems with MeHg. I am taking a required toxicology class right now and the animal testing nonsense is unbelievable. If you really just need to see if a womb transplant works--put it in a human. We are so anthropocentric it kills me.

/rant. I know some people won't agree, and comment on, but I had to get it off of my chest! #wombtransplant
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Working-for-the-weekend
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: Not all people CAN adopt. Same sex couples have a very hard time adopting in some states, if they are allowed at all. Obsese couples are not allowed to adopt through some agencies. People with large amounts of debts (even student loans) are sometimes prohibited from adopting. A friend of mine and her partner were turned down by an adoption agency because they both worked more than 40 hours a week (even though the hours they worked were not all overlapping)

If adopting a baby were as easy as adopting a puppy there would not be so many children who never find a home. #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: Should have mentioned that I am an advocate for adoption reform. #wombtransplant
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Working-for-the-weekend
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: That is great. The adoption system needs to be completely changed in this country. Until then though, be careful of just saying "oh just adopt" to someone. It's not that easy, and implying that it is to someone who may have gone through years of infertility treatments is a little cruel. #wombtransplant
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lilyHaze
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: For those who can get pregnant but need help, it's cheaper. Fertility treatments are sometimes covered by insurance.

Adoption, on the other hand starts at $20,000. US adoption is difficult and the birth mother can take the child away (up to a year I believe). Foreign adoptions are more expensive (let's say $30-$40K), but the adoptions are more or less set in stone. #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: Would it be unrealistic for people to try adoption first (I mean, after they try 'naturally,' given it's a heterosexual couple), and if that doesn't work, then go for the fertility meds, IVF, surrogate, and um...womb transplantation? I'm genuinely asking.

I have to admit, I have no desire to have children. I do not see what's appealing about it. I think that if more people REALLY thought about what it means to have kids, they might not? Or they might try adoption first? Again, I know that my thoughts on this are far from the mainstream. #wombtransplant
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lizdexia
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: I'm a huge fan of adoption reform too. But that's a slow process and the fact is that there are couples who desperately want a child right now. It's pretty glib to say "why bring more children into the world when there are kids who need adopting?" when so many of these children are inaccessible. Blaming parents who try ART instead of a broken adoption system really isn't fair.

Besides, why is it any more evil or selfish to use ART instead of adoption than it is to get pregnant the regular old way? Why do so many people assume that couple with fertility issues have a special responsibility to wrangle with the nightmarish adoption system? #wombtransplant
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lizdexia
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: How do you know they haven't? Lots of couples look into adoption, realize the cost far exceeds IVF, and know that at the end of the process, they may still be left with no baby. I don't think you understand how hard couples who desire to be parents encounter fertility problems work to find a way to be parents. It's not just a question of vanity and wanting a baby who looks like them, most of these parents desperately want to love a child. The adoption system is so unfriendly as to not be a viable option for many, many people. #wombtransplant
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TrixieCanary
10/22/09

@lizdexia: Why do so many people assume that couple with fertility issues have a special responsibility to wrangle with the nightmarish adoption system?

Yes--this. If we're pushing for all the world's children to be adopted, it's not up to infertile couples or same sex couples to do it.

@pumpkinseed: Pushing adoption on infertile couples is insensitive and, frankly, infuriating--especially when one follows it up by saying they don't even know why anyone would want kids. If you can't understand the complexities of what an infertile couple is going through, and you don't understand their basic desire for a child, please keep your opinions to yourself. (ETA: Not on a comment board, obviously, but more in the general vein of this discussion. Obviously, on a comment section of a blog, you're free to express it.)

ETA: I realize you're making a general point about adoption by infertile couples and not talking to a specific person who is going through infertility, but it's important to realize that this is a deeply personal and very, very painful topic for most people, and most don't share their trials outside a close network of friends and family.
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hortense promoted this comment Edited by TrixieCanary at 10/22/09 11:23 AM TrixieCanary was starred TrixieCanary was unstarred

pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@lizdexia: Honestly, I do think that trying to get pregnant the '0ld-fashoined way' can be a little selfish, but spending buko-bucks on meds and surgeries to bring a child on to this planet just does not make sense to me. I understand that the adoption system is broken, and desperately needs to be fixed--like, right now, today.

I know a couple who have gone the IVF route before considering adoption. I'm sure other people try adoption first. And I understand that both options can be extremely wretching and expensive.

Again, I don't see what's appealing about having children--so maybe I just really can't wrap my head around it. #wombtransplant
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Maritsa
10/22/09

@lizdexia: I love you so much right now! #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@lizdexia: I did preface my whole rant with a disclaimer, basically. I'm more or less playing devils advocate. Trying to get people to think. Some people want kids because they are supposed to want kids--I am convinced of that, and it's true of other things.

Everybody is so knee-jerky about this. Perhaps we should start doing something about it. #wombtransplant
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Maritsa
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: One problem with "trying adoption first" is that you are losing time. I know people who had international adoptions that took 3-4 years. You can't lose that much time if you're going to try fertility treatments after, unless you're like 25. Age is a big factor in lots of infertility.

For a lot of people, including me, IVF is covered by insurance. So why would I spend $30K on adoption when it is faster and cheaper to do IVF? If the answer is that I have some obligation to do so, why doesn't a couple who can conceive "naturally" have the same obligation?

I don't understand the point you're trying to make with this: I think that if more people REALLY thought about what it means to have kids, they might not? Or they might try adoption first?

I agree that some people, maybe even a lot, don't think about what having a kid is really like before they have them. So, sure, maybe if more people put more thought into it, they wouldn't get pregnant, or would wait to get pregnant. But why would that have anything to do with "trying adoption first?" #wombtransplant
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lizdexia
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: not to be a total bitch, but yeah, i think your views on child-rearing may be coloring your understanding of the issue. If you don't want kids in the first place, I can see how you wouldn't see it as a big deal to give adoption a shot knowing that the time you spend on a waiting list, possibly to be ultimately rejected, is eating up the few years you may have when ART may work. If you see kids as superfluous, I imagine it is difficult for you to empathize with poeple who want to parent.

This doesn't invalidate your opinion, or right to express it of course. But you probably shouldn't be surpised if people unload some major hostility on you. Frankly, the view that couples, and especially women, who pursue ART instead of adopting are just selfish, spoiled and self-indulgent is very mainstream, and the families who have suffered through infertility are probably very tired of hearing it. #wombtransplant
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Maritsa
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: Honestly, the biggest "knee-jerky" reaction on any IVF thread here is always "Why don't they just adopt?" So you're not playing devil's advocate so much as spouting a widely-held view. #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@lizdexia: I'm not surprised, I fully expected it. But this is a forum for opinions.

Also, my original post was regarding womb transplant, not ART in general. And I honestly don't think that ART is any more or less selfish than trying naturally. Again, too many babies, bad adoption policies. #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: oh, and poor sex education and not enough family planning options contributes as well. #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@Maritsa: I mean that reasons for having/not having babies is multifaceted. I don't want kids because A. I just don't have the patience, money, etc. for kids and B. Environmental/population issues. If I do change my mind someday (I'm 25), I would try to adopt. So perhaps people decide that they don't want kids because they don't want to contribute to the population--if they still feel a need to be parents, they can try to adopt.
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Edited by pumpkinseed at 10/22/09 11:56 AM pumpkinseed was starred pumpkinseed was unstarred

Working-for-the-weekend
10/22/09

@Maritsa: I also think that people perceive IVF as so invasive or as a last resort. I know I did before I knew anything about it. Now I know so many people who have done it, it seems routine and normal (other than the astronomical costs that many people have to endure).

Adoption is more invasive to me. No one comes and checks your house or calls your boss when you get IVF. #wombtransplant
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purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: Agreed. "Just adopt" tends to be a phrase that completely runs over the substantial injustices done to birth mothers of desirable infants in this country, and conversely, it tends to whitewash the huge commitment that foster-to-adopt is to kids who often have an array of special needs. Raising foster-to-adopt kids is a full-time job, and while I believe that it's a problem we should throw giant piles of money, thought, and time at, I don't think it's something we should throw at people with reproductive challenges. Telling other people what choices to make with their own personal uteruses is, to me, outside of the realm of appropriate conversation among people who are not advising in a medical capacity. #wombtransplant
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boobmom
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: To me, "Why don't you just adopt?" said to an infertile woman is like saying "Why don't you choose life?" to a woman seeking an abortion. In other words, their choice is wrong to you, and so you feel it's okay to dismiss how they feel and what they want. And who are you to dismiss so many people's opinions and feelings so blithely? If you do not want to have children at all, perhaps you ought not suggest to those of us who do how we ought to go about it. "If I decide to have children, I'll adopt" [paraphrase] is a not-so-subtle dig at those of us taking the low road and having our own kids, I guess. #wombtransplant
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purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: I'm afraid it's neither playing the devil's advocate nor broadening the conversation when you're repeating things that infertile people have been told dozens or hundreds of times in lieu of proper sympathy for a painful physical handicap. It's simply repeating a statement that is in terrible taste.
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Maritsa promoted this comment Edited by purpleshoes reminds everyone to take typing breaks and stretch, ow at 10/22/09 12:21 PM

Maritsa
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: IVF is not super-fun but I often find that people overestimate how taxing it is. The emotional aspect is hard, but it doesn't come from IVF, it comes from being infertile. I wouldn't say it's a breeze for everyone, some people have it worse than others, but personally, it was pretty easy for me. #wombtransplant
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pumpkinseed
10/22/09

@pumpkinseed: I think that people should read this whole thread before commenting. #wombtransplant
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BytheSea
10/23/09

@lilyHaze: There's no flat fee for adoption. Those costs may be average but it can very greatly. #wombtransplant
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Working-for-the-weekend
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
I wish people would educate themselves a little more. Those who oppose IVF because of the risk of multiple births should actually just oppose irresponsible fertility doctors.

Resposible fertility doctors will put 1, 2, or 3 embryos back in depending on the woman's age and history of miscarriage etc. I know more than a dozen women who have had IVF and none have conceived more than twins. Most only conceive one baby. #wombtransplant
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Maritsa
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: Oh, but it's so much easier to condemn the entire procedure and say "Why don't you just adopt??" #wombtransplant
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Working-for-the-weekend
10/22/09

@Maritsa: Well yeah, because adopting is so easy. You just go to the baby store and pick one out right? #wombtransplant
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Edited by Working-for-the-weekend at 10/22/09 10:34 AM

Maritsa
10/22/09

@Working-for-the-weekend: Totally! And they're practically free. #wombtransplant
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lizdexia
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Is this really a quesiton of "a step too far", or just an area of research that won't be especially useful for managing fertility? The number of women who need hyterectomies before menopuase is fairly small, and of those, many will have had full hyterectomies, calling into question their ability to produce the hormones to sustain a pregnancy. Additionally, the fragility of the transplanted organ seems to pose a series risk to mother and child. Not to mention the fact that she'll need to take anti-rejection drugs forever and the effect that will have on her, and possibly the baby's, immune system (does anyone know if immunosuppressants cross the placenta?). I don't think this is "too much" in that some women don't deserve help, but that it's just not especially promising and may well be more dangerous than it is beneficial. #wombtransplant
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TheGuvnah
10/22/09

@lizdexia: Agreed 100%. #wombtransplant
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TurtleWexlerKickedMe
10/22/09

@lizdexia: Co-sign.

As I was reading this, the first thing I thought was, this is really only potentially useful for a very small percentage of the population - very small. And the concept of needing to be on lifelong drugs raises a few red flags in terms of carrying a healthy pregnancy with the new womb. #wombtransplant
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BytheSea
10/23/09

@lizdexia: re: immunosuppressants, it's not like the uterus is an organ that you can't live without.

Maybe by the time this thing is developed for humans, they'l be able to grow us our own replacement parts from our stem cells.
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Edited by BytheSea at 10/23/09 12:22 AM BytheSea was starred BytheSea was unstarred

worldgreatestgirl
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
My questions is once the woman have the child, will the doctors remove the womb?. She won't need it after she gives birth. #wombtransplant
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queen_caribbean
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
I really don't see where the controversy lies. We can already transplant hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers, etc. Transplanting a uterus may not be life-saving, but it's definitely life-giving. I'm also pro surrogacy, but this could save some women the trauma of carrying a child for 9 months and then having to part with him/her. #wombtransplant
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Little Time Bomb
10/22/09

@queen_caribbean: I think the issue is that unlike the transplants you name the uterus would have to be removed again after pregnancy. #wombtransplant
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queen_caribbean
10/22/09

@Little Time Bomb: That's a fact that the woman undergoing the procedure would absolutely need to understand. If she does understand and is still willing to go through with it because of the the child that will result from it, it's her choice. The safety of the mother is #1, but there are risks involved in any surgery. #wombtransplant
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Little Time Bomb
10/22/09

@queen_caribbean: Fair enough. I think the issue now that I re-read may also be that lack of a womb is not a life threatening condition. Most hospitals and insurance groups are not going to be interested in a procedure that is so high risk to correct something that isn't life threatening.
I'm sure many feel funding could be better spent on things with wider ranged application. #wombtransplant
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LaComtesse
10/22/09

@all: Plastic surgery is potentially dangerous and not necessary to one's well-being, but according to those who undergo it, it improves their quality of life. Should we ban it? Whether or not you like it or would ever care to undergo it really doesn't matter: if people want to develop it, I don't see an ethical reason to stop the research (yet). #wombtransplant
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laureltreedaphne
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
I'm worried about the fact that the rabbits died 10 months after surgery. Don't rabbits actually live fairly long lives? Why did they die so quickly. #wombtransplant
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Red-headed bookworm
10/22/09

@laureltreedaphne: It's hard to judge since I didn't see an age on the rabbits when they received the transplant. One thing I looked at said a spayed or neutered pet rabbit has a life expectancy of 8 to 12 years, but these are obviously not spayed. #wombtransplant
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sciencerules
10/22/09

@laureltreedaphne: I'm guessing this was the planned endpoint of the experiment. Research animals are expensive to house and care for, and ten months is actually a fairly long experiment. #wombtransplant
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laureltreedaphne
10/22/09

@sciencerules: Ah, I see. Now I feel really dumb. #wombtransplant
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sciencerules
10/22/09

@laureltreedaphne: Don't feel dumb! It's an astute question--what if this operation, or the drugs DID shorten your life by a considerable amount? #wombtransplant
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BytheSea
10/23/09

@laureltreedaphne: you ever seen someone after major surgery with the drugs and all the tubes and monitors, te $10,000/day hospital stay? They don't do that for rabbits. #wombtransplant
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BytheSea
10/23/09

@sciencerules: they really should've explaind it in the article, but I guess the reporter wanted to play down that Doctor Death killed Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. #wombtransplant
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artyfarty
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
I personally think that it's not really up to anyone else to decide what's "too far" for other people because until you've decided that yes, you DO want a child but a doctor tells you that no, you cannot have a baby the "normal" way, it's hard to gauge how far you would go. I am infertile and have one adopted son who has been home for almost a year. My husband and I have been recently discussing expanding our family, but we know that it really isn't an option for us. We can't afford to go through the adoption process again and we know that I would need very invasive and expensive measures taken in order to even try for a pregnancy which we aren't comfortable with or able to do. I get that it's hard for people who don't desire kids to understand why someone would go through all this just to have a baby, but when you do want one and know that you can't, the situation gets really messy and sad and complicated and while they aren't my cup of tea, I think that these kind of options can be a hopeful thing for some women. #wombtransplant
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Diziet_Sma
10/22/09

@artyfarty: I hear you, but someone somewhere has to make the funding decision - do we fund continued research on womb transplants, or colon cancer, for instance? #wombtransplant
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artyfarty
10/22/09

@Diziet_Sma: No, I get you on that, but we also spend a ton of money on things like boner meds that could be used to cure other things. I guess my point is that if there are people willing to undergo this type of thing to have a child, I don't see a problem with offering them options. #wombtransplant
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Diziet_Sma
10/22/09

@artyfarty: Well, my understanding was that "boner meds" were an accidental finding of research into heart disease. Although, yes, I'm sure dumb decisions about funding are made - but that doesn't justify another dumb decision.

The question is, how many women are affected by this form of infertility, compared to how many women are affected by colon/breast cancer, or, say, Crohn's disease, or any of the thousands of other medical afflictions. And then there's the whole question of life-preserving vs life-enhancing, ya know?

I mean, I don't know the answers to these questions because I don't have the data in front of me. I'm just saying, it's not as simple as - if some people want it, it should be provided.
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Edited by Diziet_Sma at 10/22/09 10:36 AM Diziet_Sma was starred Diziet_Sma was unstarred

artyfarty
10/22/09

@Diziet_Sma: I wasn't really look at it as deeply on the funding issue but rather is this particular research going too far in respect to reproductive medicine. Perhaps I misread the article.I don't disagree with the fact that medical funding isn't as balanced as it should be but my point was that if this guy wants to do this and he can get the funding, it's not up to me to decide whether he should be doing it or not. I'm sure that there are people that have afflictions that are rare but it doesn't mean that person doesn't want someone to try and help them. #wombtransplant
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Diziet_Sma
10/22/09

@artyfarty: Yes, I see what you mean; you're talking theoretically, whereas I'm thinking about the practicalities. #wombtransplant
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susanstohelit
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Procedures like this make me worry that we have fetishized pregnancy and biological children to such a degree that women will take any risk in order to get pregnant. I want to have kids, but not if it involves flooding my body with hormones or undergoing risky surgery, and I just don't understand why anyone would be so anxious to have a child that they would go through with this kind of major surgery. Plus, it's clearly something available only to the privileged - I doubt most people's insurance would cover something like this and most women don't have the time or money to go through with this experience. Pregnancy - only the middle class need apply. #wombtransplant
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queen_caribbean
10/22/09

@susanstohelit: I have a friend who is, by no means wealthy, who both adopted and gave birth. She explained that she loves both children equally and considers them both "hers." She went through hell to get pregnant. Her reason for doing this is she wanted the experience of carrying and giving birth to a child, not so that she could have one that is "truly hers." She is happy to have had both experiences. Neither one makes her more or less of a mother. Besides, people put themselves through painful, major surgeries for cosemetic reasons. It's all about personal choice. #wombtransplant
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TurtleWexlerKickedMe
10/22/09

@susanstohelit: This. Thank you. I love kids, want one of my own someday, but man, the way we've fetishized pregnancy really scares me, and there are extremes that society has suddenly deemed acceptable which really terrify me. #wombtransplant
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daradoodle
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Will anything ever be a step too far for rich privileged women and their fertility treatments? I don't have a problem with this- clearly for some women not being able to have children naturally is torturous, and helping them is important. However. It makes me crazy that a small subset of the population has access to incredibly expensive procedures, that research like this can get funded (clearly not without some barriers, but it is being funded) but that so many women don't have access to basic reproductive health care, and it seems like nothing is being done to help them. Unfortunately there are limited resources to invest in healthcare, and even more unfortunately, "women's issues" will always be funded less, and frankly, and I just don't think this should be the priority. It seems that because of the culture we live in fighting for women's healthcare is much closer to a zero sum game than we would like, and it angers me that this might get money and attention over other things. #wombtransplant
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SomeAuthorGirl
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
Regardless of whether I would do it or not, I think that making a distinction for organs specific to women is a problem for me. I don't like the idea that hearts, eyes, and kidneys are a-ok, but if it's a uterus? Oooooooh, can't spend money on things that don't directly benefit men.

Same shit, different day. #wombtransplant
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mainesqueeze
10/22/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: Eye, heart or kidney transplants can save the lives or improve the quality of life of men *and* women.

Nobody actually needs a uterus for day-to-day living. #wombtransplant
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Sophie needs to study...damn
10/22/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: One difference between the organs you mentioned and a womb is that the former are transplanted to preserve life while the latter is elective and may unnecessarily endanger it. But I agree with your overall point.
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Edited by Sophie needs to study...damn at 10/22/09 10:05 AM

SomeAuthorGirl
10/22/09

@mainesqueeze: Says who? I'm not trying to be argumentative. But I don't feel comfortable with defining that for other people. #wombtransplant
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SomeAuthorGirl
10/22/09

@Sophie needs to study...damn: I hear you. But things like eyes, for example, improve life not preserve it. Who decides that the transplantation of a womb does or does not improve the life of a woman? #wombtransplant
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Sophie needs to study...damn
10/22/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: I agree that a woman should decide what she wants to do to with her body. And the whole eye transplant thing (they can do that? the more you know) is a great point. Medically, I don't have an argument against it. I just wish that society, including myself, didn't buy into the whole biological-children-are-the-best... for real motherhood vibe. #wombtransplant
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mainesqueeze
10/22/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: You will die without a heart. You will not die without a uterus.

Seems like a pretty clear line to me. #wombtransplant
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SomeAuthorGirl
10/22/09

@Sophie needs to study...damn: I hear ya and actually agree, for myself. But I've occasionally thought of donating my eggs. If I'd not been able to have a baby (which for awhile it looked like I would not, took a long time), I never gave a thought to anything other than adoption. That's just me. But there's a part of me that, while I don't understand the desire for it myself, would feel good about helping another woman.

Family is what you make of it, however you get there. :) #wombtransplant
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sciencerules
10/22/09

@mainesqueeze: What about kidneys, then? Technically you only need one, or you could go on dialysis. Spleen, you don't really need your spleen, no one transplants those that I know of. I'm really intrigued by the whole essential organ thing this morning. #wombtransplant
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missing_piece
10/22/09

In reply to Womb Transplants On The Horizon — But Are They "A Step Too Far?"
I'm not one to say what people should and shouldn't do with their bodies, so if this becomes another option for women, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Only, a transplant is a MAJOR surgery. Surrogacy may be seen by some as distasteful, but it is relatively safe - at least as safe as a pregnancy normally is. I would assume IVF is relatively safe too, but I'm not going to presume to know much about it.
However, there are a ton of risks with any sort of transplant. I'd worry about the body rejecting the womb halfway through the pregnancy, the fact that a transplanted womb pretty much is guaranteed NOT to make it through labor and delivery without a c-section, and I wonder if it's possible to test if a human child can grow and develop inside a transplanted womb. Is there a way to find that out without actually having a woman go through the procedure and getting pregnant? The thought of impregnating a woman as an experiment to see if the child survives seems a little iffy to me.

I don't know - I'm definitely not involved in medicine in any way, shape, or form, so presumably this guy will have thought of all of these issues and more, and is working to make it safe. If so, I say more power to him, but there is still a huge amount of unknown until the procedure is completed on an actual woman, and not just an animal. #wombtransplant
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