The World Isn’t Ready for What Comes After I.V.F.

September 9, 2024

image of an oocyte being fertilized with a needle

(New York Times) – A generation ago, bioethicists fought over whether assisted reproductive technology would be normalized or made taboo. Now there’s strong public consensus that it should be not only tolerated but also celebrated.

But this may be a lull. With major technological advances in childbearing on the horizon, what was once hypothetical is becoming plausible, setting the stage for a potentially tumultuous shift in the cultural mood about assisted reproduction.

Consider in vitro gametogenesis, or I.V.G., a technology under development that would allow the creation of eggs or sperm from ordinary body tissue, like skin cells. Men could become genetic mothers, women could be fathers, and people could be the offspring of one, three, four or any number of parents. (Read More)