
The Artificial Womb Is Born (1996) - guard-of-terra
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/magazine/the-artificial-womb-is-born.html
======
mrcharles
This article is a flat out copy paste of the original New York Times article.

[http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/magazine/the-artificial-
wo...](http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/magazine/the-artificial-womb-is-
born.html)

edit: An article from 1996, I might add.

~~~
guard-of-terra
Updated the submission with year. Can't change url!

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chillax
The entire post seems to be a copy of the source from NYT in 1996. I wonder
what advances have been done in this field from that date to now? Not much on
wikipedia
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_uterus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_uterus))

~~~
uptown
Entirely different - but the first successful uterus transplant recently
occurred. Unfortunately, she lost the baby at 8 weeks.

[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/12/worlds-first-
successfu...](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/12/worlds-first-successful-
uterus-transplant-recipient-is-pregnant-via-in-vitro-fertilization/)

[http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/womb-transplant-
patien...](http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/womb-transplant-patient-
derya-sert-loses-baby-211659723.html)

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alexeisadeski3
'The World of the Matrix' involves a lot more than artificial wombs.

Regardless, it is nice that one day, hopefully soon, men will be able to start
their own (biological) families - just as women are able today.

~~~
argumentum
Huh? How do women start their own "biological" families today? I guess you
mean genetic?

If so, no women can't do that today, and artificial gestation alone won't
allow men to do it . Women still require a sperm donor, and (with artificial
gestation) men would need an egg donor.

Regardless, I agree that within our lives people will be able to start their
own "biological" families as most of the barriers are just engineering
barriers.

~~~
alexeisadeski3
Yes I mean with donor sperm.

~~~
argumentum
But then men can do the same thing today .. with a donor placenta (surrogate
mother) & a donor egg.

Artificial placentas alone change nothing for _men_ who want their own
children, other than potential cost savings.

~~~
alexeisadeski3
Using a surrogate mother puts you at the mercy of her whim. She may decide to
keep the baby, thus forcing you to pay massive child support. For wealthy men
this is extraordinarily risky.

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steve_barham
I'm not sure why this article has been published in 2013; it seems to stem
from the late 1990s, with it's speculation on the widespread use of technology
'by 2000':

"I wouldn’t want to push back the gestational age limit,” Shaffer says. ”I
want to eliminate the damage.” He says he believes that this technology may
become the standard. By the year 2000, these techniques may be available in
large centers"

Picking one of the researchers named in the project (Yoshinori Kuwabara)
suggests that the article originates somewhere between 1997 and 2000.

[http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/olc_linkedcontent/bioethic...](http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/olc_linkedcontent/bioethics_cases/g-bioe-17.htm)

\- describes his artificial womb technology from 1997 \- published in 2000 but
indicates that the researcher has died

~~~
chillax
This is also from Kuwabara (1987):
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3619696](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3619696)

And some follow up research I think:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3054922/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3054922/)

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chollida1
Not sure what's going on with the title, but the matrix was released in 1999

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/)

so I'm not sure just how an article from 1996 could reference the movie.

I guess I'm being too pedantic here:)

~~~
svantana
The linked article was published last year, although the entire article body
is copied from a 1996 NYT article titled "The Artificial Womb Is Born". Case
closed...

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nico_h
Anyone has any idea about how far this research is nowadays?

The applications could be life saving beyond neonatology:

\- Pregnant women being diagnosed with illness that would threaten the baby.

\- Pregnant women being diagnosed with illness for which the cure would
threaten the baby.

\- Pregnant women in very serious accidents (mother dying, such a device could
save the baby).

\- Infertile couples not wanting to use a surrogate mother.

\- Like "alexeisadeski3" said, gay couples wanting to have a baby (but then,
which one gets to be the biological father?).

In the crazy science department, this would render the cloning of extinct
species more viable. Unfortunately, it could also reduce the hurdles to create
genetically modified beings.

~~~
guard-of-terra
What's wrong with creating genetically modified beings? Some of my genes blow
and I don't want to pass those on children.

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gadders
I can see this happening one day. Hopefully it will be a way for otherwise-
aborted foetuses to be routed to appreciative infertile couples.

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teddyh
More like the last episode of the 1988 TV show Max Headroom, “ _Baby Grobags_
”.

