Should brain-dead women be used as substitutes?
This is one philosopher’s outrageously controversial concept.
The move – which the Norwegian author herself concedes as “undoubtedly disturbing” – would “help future parents who want to have children but cannot have children,” such as gay and infertile couples.
But dr Anna Smajdor, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo, also claimed that it could be a viable option for women who prefer not to bear a child.
Women would avoid the health risks of pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and emotional trauma resulting from complications, and it would address the problem of surrogate mother shortages, she argued.
But dr Anna Smajdor, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo, also claimed that it could be a viable option for women who prefer not to bear a child. It would also be an option for infertile and gay couples
dr Smajdor, who described the concept as “whole-body gestational donation,” even claimed brain-dead men could be used as proxies to address “feminist objections.”
Opinion poll
Should brain-dead women be kept “alive” and used as ERSURROGATE?
- Yes 44 votes
- No 756 votes
However, she did not explain how the men would be able to carry a baby.
But she said it wasn’t a “science fiction piece” and that the prospect could “appease some feminists”.
According to their theory, brain-dead women would be used as surrogate figures if they had previously consented.
It would involve embryos being placed in these women’s wombs pending delivery.
Brain death is permanent, meaning the affected person will never regain consciousness or breathe on their own. You are legally confirmed dead.
It can be caused by a cardiac arrest or heart attack, or other injury that cuts off blood or oxygen supply to the brain.
A vegetative state – in which Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is still – is different. These patients still show some signs of consciousness and have a chance of recovery because the brainstem is still functioning.
Brain-dead people can still have a beating heart and their chests “heave and fall with every breath.” However, this is solely due to life support machines – not because the person has miraculously regained the ability to do it themselves.
dr Anna Smajdor wrote in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics that it is “surprising” that no country allows women to donate their bodies after brain death for surrogacy – an idea first touted by medical professionals in 2000
dr Smajdor wrote in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics that it is “surprising” that no country allows women to donate their bodies after brain death for surrogacy – an idea first touted by medical professionals in 2000.
All women who want to avoid the “risks and burdens” of pregnancy should have access to this form of surrogacy, she said.
Pregnancy and childbirth pose “significant health risks” — and are more deadly than measles, claimed Dr. Smajdor.
That’s not the case in the UK, however, where people are twice as likely to die from a respiratory infection as they are in pregnancy.
But expectant mothers can face health risks from high blood pressure, which can lead to life-threatening attacks called eclampsia, and diabetes, which increases the risk of miscarriage and complications during childbirth.
“Concentrated medical efforts are focused on ridding us of measles, while women are expected to expose themselves to the greater risks of pregnancy and childbirth almost without a second thought,” said Dr. Smajdor.
Former international track and field athlete Catarina Sequeira from Portugal gave birth to her son Salvador in 2019, three months after she was declared brain dead after suffering an acute asthma attack. Salvador’s father said at the time that he was in good health
She added: “We cannot completely do without the womb for the reproduction of our species.
“But we can transfer the risks of pregnancy to those who can no longer be harmed by it.”
Couples who choose a brain-dead surrogate would avoid even direct “emotional and physical” trauma if there were complications at birth, argued Dr. Smajdor.
The donors would be “under absolute medical scrutiny and surveillance,” which would not interfere with their lives — as would a living surrogate mother — because the function of the donor is “solely pregnancy,” claimed Dr. Smajdor.
And the approach itself “provides a solution to the problems of surrogacy,” said Dr. Smajdor.
She didn’t explain what the problems are, but there is a shortage of surrogates and the process can cost up to £80,000 in the UK and twice that in the US.
Kim Kardashian used a surrogate for her second two children after experiencing complications while pregnant with her two eldest children.
While the prospect of using brain-dead women as surrogate mothers “can be unsettling,” brain death is already accepted as a “reasonable basis” for organ donation, Dr. Smajdor.
People often donate knowing their organs will be given to those awaiting transplantation, and in theory the logic is the same, she said.
The paper sparked an outcry from social media users, who said the concept was “demeaning to the whole concept of life as we know it.”
What is brain death?
Brain death is when a person has no brain function.
It can be caused by a cardiac arrest or heart attack, or other injury that cuts off blood or oxygen supply to the brain.
It is permanent, meaning the affected person never regains consciousness or starts breathing on their own. You are legally confirmed dead.
A vegetative state – in which Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is still – is different. These patients still show some signs of consciousness and have a chance of recovery because the brainstem is still functioning.
Brain-dead people can still have a beating heart and their chests “heave and fall with every breath,” says the NHS.
However, this is solely due to life support machines – not because the person has miraculously regained the ability to do it themselves.
Source: NHS
dr Smajdor admits it is “unknown” how long a brain-dead patient can be kept alive, with the longest reported case being 110 days. However, there is no known upper limit to how long someone can be kept alive on life support.
However, she added that it was considered “bad medical practice” and “unethical” to extend it – and it was “undoubtedly a worrying prospect,” she said.
However, she said that ventilation for organ donation has already been extended and it makes “little difference” that this is for a short period of time and not for the nine months it takes a baby to develop in the womb.
dr Smajdor also noted that there was a lack of data on whether it was even possible for a brain-dead person to have a successful pregnancy, attributing this to “moral squeamishness” about prolonging the lives of brain-dead women.
But donating the body for surrogacy is “not out of the realm of possibility” as there is “growing evidence” that pregnancies can be carried to term in women who have suffered brain death, she said.
Former international track and field athlete Catarina Sequeira from Portugal gave birth to her son Salvador in 2019, three months after she was declared brain dead after suffering an acute asthma attack. Salvador’s father said at the time that he was in good health.
dr Smajdor acknowledged that her approach “might stand out as unacceptable from a feminist perspective” as it “separates the reproductive functions from the person”.
“Whole-body gestational donation” is “quite simply the use of the body as a fetal container,” which “might condone the idea that living women” can also be treated as such, she suggested.
But those worries can be alleviated by using brain-dead men as surrogates, which would “further increase” the donor pool, she said.
The paper, spotted by news website Reduxx, sparked an outcry from social media users, who said the concept was “demeaning to the whole concept of life as we know it.”
Others said it was the “most disgusting and twisted thing” they had ever read.
One user compared it to The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel set in a world where fertile women are forced to have children.
Tom Farr of Manchester tweeted that he could “think few things more horrifying, dystopian and indicative of a total societal moral collapse than harvesting the bodies of dead women and keeping them functionally ‘alive’ as a substitute.”
Ashlyn O’Mara of Toronto, Canada, compared the newspaper to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, in which babies are born only through artificial wombs in laboratories.
dr Smajdor previously sparked backlash for claiming that nurses and doctors do not have to treat patients with compassion.
She believes staff should be able to carry out daily tasks – from removing the appendix to feeding an elderly patient – without being friendly towards them.
She argued that compassion is “not a necessary part” of healthcare and that staff who care too much about their patients would be demoralized if they witnessed neglect or poor treatment on the wards.