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Home > Robots > Sexbot Surrogates That Birth Human Babies Are a Close Possibility, Says Scientist

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Home›Robots›Sexbot Surrogates That Birth Human Babies Are a Close Possibility, Says Scientist

Sexbot Surrogates That Birth Human Babies Are a Close Possibility, Says Scientist

By M. Christian
May 26, 2017
3360
1

Pregnant robots may radically change our notion of childbirth.

A bow is wrapped around the belly of a pregnant woman as if it were a present.

At first it sounds completely implausible: in the future it may be possible, and even desirable, for androids to have not only sex with humans but also become pregnant and carry healthy human babies to term.

Sooner rather than later

Yet, there are already signs that this kind of technology is inevitable. Just this year researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia created what they are referring to as a Biobag: the first step in the creation of an artificial, external womb.

For right now the technology has only been used on sheep and not used for conception. Instead, it’s been a way of giving premature lambs a more natural environment to further develop.

Speaking to the idea that someday the Biobag could replace human reproduction, Alan W. Flake, an attending pediatric and fetal surgeon and head of the team that developed the Biobag, told The Verge: “It’s complete science fiction to think that you can take an embryo and get it through the early developmental process and put it on our machine without the mother being the critical element there.”

Are we ready for pregnant androids?

However, despite Flake’s criticism, if there’s anything the last few years have taught us is that today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality. In fact, some people have already begun to envision a time when an ancestor of the Biobag could allow humans fetuses to gestate inside an artificial womb and have that robot become a surrogate mother.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Dr. Jordi Vallverdú of the Autonomous University of Barcelona pointed out that there has been a lot of serious discussion in academic circles about the concept of an robot giving birth to a child: “More than 200 academic papers have discussed this technology as well as many recent serious books. So, the possibility is very close,” he said.

Using the term ectogenesis for the process, he goes on to say that we could possibly be see true synthetic wombs in a little as two or three decades.

Despite this, he cautions that humanity is far from ready for the next step; for androids to become not just lovers but also parents since it “violates the common sense about what it means to be a human.”

Pregnant with possibilities

Without questioning Vallverdú’s expertise, it’s worth considering that—back to science fiction again—in just a few short years since its development, processes such as artificial insemination went from controversial to completely commonplace. The same could also be said of many birth control methods such as the combined oral contraceptive pill.

Even with true artificial birth, from conception to birth of a healthy human child some years away, there’s still a good chance that we’ll be seeing pregnant sexbots sooner rather than later.

Speculating a bit, it’s—excuse me—conceivable that an android with a form of the Bioba, could also be given a supply of donated eggs. Either because of an inability to carry to term or simply through preference, someone could choose an android to become their true reproductive surrogate. Putting it rather inelegantly: it could then become a collection mechanism for sperm, a store of viable eggs, and—when things go well—a womb and even a delivery system.

The artificial family of the future

As far as why something like this would be used, it’s possible that it could be an option for those who have difficulties conceiving, or prefer to have children without childbirth.

It could even be a way of preserving a family after loss. With a store of viable eggs, a simulacrum robot could enable the birth of a child after a once-hopeful a biological mother had passed away.

Gazing even farther into the future, these types of androids could be an essential component of a deep space colony. If anything happened that could interfere with natural births, such as radiation, these types of androids could be kept on hand to make sure the expedition didn’t die out.

Of course, you’d also want to have the bots stocked with eggs and sperm, : giving them the ability to give birth no matter the circumstances.

Tomorrow’s birthdays

No doubt when, and not if, these types of sexbots do emerge, even more uses will be found for the technology. The outcome could be beyond our current comprehension, including a change in the definition of the very word “parent.”

Image sources: Torsten Mangner, Steven Lilley

M. Christian

M.Christian (they/them) loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer they have six novels,12 collections, 100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to their name. Their non-fiction regularly appears in many sites, but they're most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of their erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing [they] can't write about… and brilliantly.”

Reflecting their unique ability to sympathetically and convincingly write for a range of genders and sexual orientations, their stories have appeared in multiple editions of Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Mammoth Books of Erotica, and others. Their collection of gay erotic fiction, Dirty Words, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

While a majority of their stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, their fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

As a novelist, M.Christian’s versatility is on full display with Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Brushes, Painted Doll; and the somewhat controversial queer BDSM/horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth, and Me2.

M.Christian has worked on the industry’s production side as an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books and as a Publisher for Digital Parchment Services. The latter dedicated to celebrating the works of science-fiction legends such as William Rotsler, Jerome Bixby, Jody Scott, Arthur Byron Cover, Ernest Hogan, and James Van Hise.

Covering topics like BDSM safety, sexual education, senior sexuality concerns, queer and gender issues, plus reviewing a variety of sex tech products, M.Christian’s non-fiction has appeared on sites like Kinkly, Tickle.Life, Sexpert, Queer Majority, Sex for Every Body, and—of course—their ongoing work for Future of Sex.

If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with their friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, they have lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

M.Christian is a cohost on two popular sex-education podcasts: Love’s Outer Limits with Dr. Amy Marsh and Licking Non-Vanilla with Ralph Greco, Jr.
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