Yahoo HealthThe treatment of fertility issues has come a very long way in recent years, and could soon venture into territory that was previously unthinkable, allowing men to possess their own wombs.
Uterus transplantation is an emerging procedure with research continuing, but given it is possible in women, and transgender women, top doctors have conceded there is no reason why it should not work on men too.
Director of the fertility preservation program at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Dr. Karine Chung, has said:
My guess is five, 10 years away, maybe sooner. Male and female anatomy is not that different. Probably at some point, we’ll figure out how to make that work.”
Channel 4/YouTubeBut the topic will raise a myriad of ethical dilemmas within medicine. Firstly any such procedure will cost a lot of money, potentially pricing out many who yearn to have children.
Secondly there are questions as to how a male carrying and birthing a baby could effect the child’s welfare in later life, purely as there is no precedent.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Christine McGinn has highlighted some of these concerns, saying:
I’d bet just about every transgender person who is female will want to do it, if it were covered by insurance. The human drive to be a mother for a woman is a very serious thing. Transgender women are no different. Ultimately, it’s a class issue; you’ll only have wealthy people able to do this.”
There is also concern that with the medical technology women could be rendered obsolete by men who do not wish to have a female partner carry their child.
