Navigating the Ethical Landscape of the Artificial Placenta: A Systematic Review

This systematic review aims at presenting the ethical debate on the artificial placenta (AP) by identifying, distinguishing, and organizing the different ethical arguments described in the literature. Articles were selected based on predefined inclusion criteria: discussing ethical arguments, on AP, written in English. QUAGOL methodology was used for analysis. Forty-five articles were included. We identified three themes. First, foundational-ethical issues. There is disagreement on whether the AP subject should be considered an infant or a new moral entity. While physiologically it stays in the fetus, it sits outside the womb. Second, reproductive ethics issues. Few authors believed that the AP would increase reproductive choices. The majority warned that the AP could limit reproductive choices by creating pressure to use it in healthy pregnancies or as an alternative to abortion. Third, research ethics issues. Publications mostly focused on the selection of the in-human trial participants. We concluded that AP ethical literature focuses mostly on the potential use of AP as an alternative to abortion or healthy pregnancies rather than on its intended use as a treatment after extremely premature birth. Therefore, we conclude that the current ethical literature on AP is imbalanced: it leans more toward science fiction than actual clinical and technological reality.