: Womb transplants are unethical, warns the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)

SPUC was responding to the announcement that clinical trials of womb transplants have been approved by UK authorities - see BBC 30 September 2015.

Dr Anthony McCarthy, a bioethics expert for SPUC, commented: "Womb transplants may seem like an obvious solution to distressing problems that can otherwise lead to dehumanising options such as 'surrogate' motherhood. However, womb transplants often in practice involve IVF which is itself dehumanising as it 'manufactures' and discards new human lives.

Ethical concerns

"Womb transplants are not without other ethical concerns including concerns about the health of the woman and any child born, and concerns about accurate diagnosis of death for the donor if a 'brain dead' woman is used. Alternatively, if the womb is taken from a healthy living donor, that in effect mutilates her since the womb is of course an unpaired organ."

For more detailed comment or for an interview with Dr Anthony McCarthy, please contact Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's Media Manager, on:

• Mobile: 07939 177683
• Direct dial landline: 020 7820 3129
• Email: news@spuc.org.uk
• Twitter: @spucprolife