Is the foster contained in and distinct from the gravida or do they form a unity? If gestation can happen outside of the human womb, then this seems to support the so-called container model of pregnancy over the parthood model.
This project uses the current philosophical debate about the metaphysics of pregnancy, and technological developments in reproductive sciences, as springboards for discussing the normative consequences of how we fundamentally conceive of the relation between foster and gravida. Whether we opt for a container or a parthood model could have important ethical and legal repercussions. For instance, would seeing the foster as a separate entity mean assigning it more or stronger rights?
In 2024, Katherine Furman, Thomas Schramme and Meg Rawson won a grant from Future of Human Reproduction to explore these, and other metaphysical and normative consequences of new reproductive technologies. The project brings together scholars from different disciplines who spearhead relevant debates in an academic event to publish their contributions in an edited collection.
Find out more about the project
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