Beyond Vice and Virtue: The Collective Utilitarian Case against the Normalization of Solo Reproduction

In their recent article Solones, Solo Reproduction and Vice, Muralidharan and Savulescu successfully dismantle the "yuck factor" surrounding solo reproduction, and they argue that accusations of narcissism or hubris are insufficient grounds for prohibition. However, by framing the debate primarily through the lens of individual virtue and immediate harm to the offspring, they overlook a more profound consequentialist challenge. This response argues that the primary ethical danger of solo reproduction is not moral vice but ecological risk. Drawing on total and preference utilitarianism, I contend that while solo reproduction is not inherently immoral, its normalization poses a threat to the "Big Genome" which is the shared genetic patrimony of humanity. A reduction in genetic diversity risks compromising our species' adaptability and resilience to pathogens and capacity for future medical innovation. Thus, while we should not ban the practice, bioethics must actively discourage it in favor of preserving the genetic commons.