Note: The ethical judgments on this page refer exclusively to the act — never to the person who carries it out or who is gestated through it. Cf. Note on ethical judgments (German).
Ectogenesis is the extracorporeal gestation of a human embryo or fetus in an artificial womb. Two forms are distinguished:
- Full ectogenesis – gestation from fertilization to birth outside a maternal body (not yet technically realized).
- Partial ectogenesis – the extracorporeal further development of extremely premature infants.
State of the art 2026: The Biobag platform (CHOP Philadelphia, EXTEND program) and the Dutch PLS platform are the leading research systems. In September 2023 the U.S. FDA held its first deliberations on Phase 1 studies in extremely premature infants. First-in-human trials are imminent in 2026.
Ontological classification
- is a subclass of: practical oblivion of the person
- uses: artificial womb
Personal-ontological classification
The ectogenetically gestated child is a complete human person with full ontological dignity – its personhood is in no ontological sense conditional upon the form of its gestation.
Ethical assessment
Ectogenesis destroys the unique bodily-personal relationship of gestational motherhood (cf. gestational motherhood (German)) – the nine months of bodily closeness, hormonal connectedness, and prenatal communication cannot be reproduced technically, because they are not a mere biological function but a personal reality of the first dimension.
In partial ectogenesis for saving the lives of extremely premature infants, a more differentiated assessment is possible: here the technology serves to save the life of an already-born person and does not replace gestation itself.
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.
Further sources:
- Horn, Claire (2025): The Artificial Womb: Foetal Personhood and Reproductive Futures. Body & Society. DOI: 10.1177/1357034X251386973. Sage.
- Partridge, E. A. et al. (2017): An extra-uterine system to physiologically support the extreme premature lamb. Nature Communications 8: 15112 (CHOP/EXTEND predecessor study).
- Romanis, E. C. (2018): Artificial womb technology and the frontier of human reproduction. Journal of Medical Ethics 44(11): 751–755.
- De Bie, F. R. et al. (2022): Ethics Considerations Regarding Artificial Womb Technology for the Fetonate. American Journal of Bioethics 23(5): 67–78.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2023): Pediatric Advisory Committee Meeting (19 September 2023; EXTEND deliberation). fda.gov.
See also
- Artificial womb
- Gestational motherhood (German)
- Motherhood
- Embryo
- Bodily integrity (German)
- Oblivion of the person