A Call for Empirical Research on Uterine Transplantation and Reproductive Autonomy

Abstract

Uterine transplantation could give women who suffer from uterine factor infertility the possibility of experiencing gestation. Much of the ethical discussion about uterine transplantation has focused on whether research on it should even be pursued, but researchers are nevertheless moving forward with several uterine transplant research protocols. Scholars should therefore already be identifying and engaging in an intimate examination of the ethical realities of offering uterine transplantation in a clinical setting. Given the potential for the procedure to expand reproductive options for women, reproductive autonomy has been a primary principle underlying much of the ethical discourse about the hypothetical impact of uterine transplantation. Yet the factors that will affect whether uterine transplants promote or undermine a patients’ reproductive autonomy if the procedure is integrated into clinical practice have yet to be rigorously explored. Focusing on the clinical realities of patient autonomy, I argue that empirical data exploring prospective recipients’ motivations and their perceptions of the benefits of the procedure in the context of their lived experiences are critical to a robust analysis of the ethical dimensions of uterine transplantation.