Should we get rid of pregnancy?

What if we changed one of the most fundamental building blocks of life

to make it more accessible?

What would happen if we got rid of birth?

(Phone ringing)

Hi, grandma.

Hello, sunshine!

Oh, did you mean to video call?

Eh? Video call? When are you going to visit me?

I don't know how much time I have left.

Eh yeah, none of us do, grandma. None of us do.

Ah. Did I tell you? Your cousin is pregnant!

Oh, wow. That’s great. Uh, should you be telling me that?

Huh? What do you mean?

Nevermind. What’s new with you?

What’s new with me? I just told you.

She’s only three years older than you, you know.

Something to think about.

Grandma, I’m 22. I have plenty of time.

Less than you think! That’s all I’m saying.

Mhm. Alright, I have to get back to work.

Okay, sunshine. I love you to pieces.

I love you too.

Oh! Sorry, I didn’t realize you were waiting for me.

Hmph.

How am I supposed to plan for something I can’t even imagine?

That I don’t even know if I want?

Well, I may not know whether or not I want kids,

but I definitely don't want to be pregnant.

Like, if you listen to the way people casually describe pregnancy and birth!

“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, just puked every day for months!”

“It was a routine delivery, just the standard tearing of the genitals!”

“With modern medicine, hardly anyone dies!”

How is everyone just shrugging and saying, “that’s the way it is”?

Like, excuse me, am I the only one who thinks this activity is not suitable

for civilians?

Even the best case is a year of major inconvenience

between being pregnant and recovering.

It's so unfair.

Well, it's not my fault she's out to lunch.

Oh! Hello...

Huh. “The Artificial Womb” by Wilhelmina Heliotrope.

I didn’t realize her original papers were still here.

(Reading) “Pregnancy has caused so much suffering.

What if we could bypass it completely?

What if we could grow humans just as well outside the body

as inside?”

Yes, exactly!

(Reading) “This may be the stuff of science fiction for now,

but with sustained interest and effort,

It doesn’t have to be forever.”

Well, that's a future I want to live in.

There’s a womb center in every town, and anyone can use it free of charge.

Oh, I guess I still have to get the eggs out of my body.

I really only want to go through that once.

But I'm still not sure if I want kids or how many,

so I get a bunch extracted to be safe.

And then I go about my business for however long I want.

Nobody raises an eyebrow or asks nosy questions.

Even though grandma can still butt in.

Hello? Hi!

When I’m ready— when I’m really ready, not just when it’s the least worst time—

one of these artificial wombs starts growing the fetus.

In the meantime, I volunteer to be infected with the Zika virus

for a vaccine trial.

Then it's time to pick up my baby.

Oh, I hope you named her after me!

You know, the hardest part is after the baby's born, right?

Well, at least I’m not recovering from a major ordeal at the same time.

And we'll split the work.

I wouldn’t count on it.

You think pregnancy is the only reason mothers do more than their share?

Think again.

But now that anyone can make a baby using an artificial womb,

maybe people stop seeing everything child-related as women’s work.

Oh, I don't know.

(Reading) “The artificial womb is my greatest dream,

but we face daunting social problems this technology won’t solve.”

Oh, not you too!

(Reading) “There are already powerful voices arguing that we should

treat fetuses and even embryos as people.

Based on these arguments, women have even been charged with murder

after miscarrying.

Will they use the invention of artificial wombs

to justify outlawing abortion entirely?”

Uh, what?

So they would argue no one needs an abortion if they can transfer the fetus

to an artificial womb instead?

But... say I get pregnant by accident.

An abortion would prioritize my health and safety.

A transfer to an artificial womb prioritizes the fetus's health,

making it way more invasive for me.

And I didn't actually want another kid.

(Wilhelmina) “Not to mention, a single fertility clinic can house

hundreds of thousands of embryos.

If they’re all considered people— well.”

Wait, so I don’t get to choose whether my stored embryos

are grown into babies anymore?

But I intentionally made extras! Everyone does!

It will take the womb center a thousand years just to grow the embryos

it already has in storage.

No one new will be able to use an artificial womb.

Unless we increase the number of them by several orders of magnitude.

And even then we still have to figure out how to support billions of new babies.

Wait... artificial wombs don’t actually make it easier to justify

granting embryos all the rights of people.

They make it even more clear what a disaster that would be.

It forces us to clearly define a moral status for embryos and fetuses

that protects them,

but doesn’t prioritize them at all costs.

By the time my daughter grows up,

artificial wombs are once again widely and freely available,

and I don’t have to worry about her suffering through pregnancy, birth,

and postpartum recovery.

Aha!

What happens when she wants to experience pregnancy, eh?

What! After everything we went through to make sure her generation

would be free to use artificial wombs?

You disapprove?

Well, no, not exactly. I just— she doesn’t understand.

You want her to learn from your experience. Ha!

Uh-huh, I see where you’re going with this.

No, I can accept this.

She should make her own choice. Just like me.

Haha!

(Reading) “If we end up with less choice because of this technological progress,

it isn’t progress at all.”

But we can’t make progress If we stuff these ideas away in a box

and ignore the questions they raise.

Getting the world ready for artificial wombs would also help lots of people now.

And then, maybe... maybe I’d actually be able to imagine

the good parts of becoming a parent as vividly as the obstacles.

Ada? What are you doing in my office?

Are you... going through my things?

Your things? Aren’t they Wilhelmina’s?

I—I mean, Dr. Heliotrope’s?

That's it. Out!

Are you... firing me?

Okay, I’ll take that as a maybe?

Well, I think people should see your work.

We're as ready for it as we'll ever be.

Hey, grandma! You wanted me to visit? How’s tomorrow?