While many might think that having babies is strictly an Earth-bound activity, it turns out there are no regulations prohibiting it in space.
A recent study has explored the potential for humans to conceive children during commercial space flights in the future.
The findings were developed by a team of international experts in reproductive medicine, aerospace health, and bioethics, suggesting that space conception may soon become feasible.
This study, published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online, was led by Giles Palmer from the International IVF Initiative Inc. He highlighted that “two scientific breakthroughs reshaped what was thought biologically and physically possible – the first Moon landing and the first proof of human fertilisation in vitro.”
“Now, more than half a century later, we argue in this report that these once-separate revolutions are colliding in a practical and underexplored reality,” Palmer explained regarding the new findings.
“IVF technologies in space are no longer purely speculative. It is a foreseeable extension of technologies that already exist.”
Technological advancements have made a lot more possible now.
However, certain risks must be taken into account for astronauts and space travelers.
Space is described as ‘a hostile environment’ for human biology due to altered gravity, radiation exposure, and circadian cycle disruption, according to the nine authors of the report. Despite animal models indicating that short-term radiation exposure affects female menstrual cycles, there is no corresponding data for astronauts’ fertility.
What is known is that women who participated in Shuttle missions experienced pregnancy rates and complications similar to those on Earth.
However, this does not include data from women exposed to space for extended periods, nor the potential effects on women spending years in space.
The authors emphasized that understanding whether it is safe requires gathering this information ‘to guide diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic strategies in extraterrestrial environments’.
“As human presence in space expands, reproductive health can no longer remain a policy blind spot,” stated Dr Fathi Karouia, senior author of the study and a research scientist at NASA.
“International collaboration is urgently needed to close critical knowledge gaps and establish ethical guidelines that protect both professional and private astronauts – and ultimately safeguard humanity as we move toward a sustained presence beyond Earth.”
The report highlighted that ‘extended time in space poses potential hazards to the reproductive function of female and male astronauts, including exposure to cosmic radiation, altered gravity, psychological and physical stress, and disruption to circadian rhythm’. This calls for further research before the possibility of ‘space babies’ can be realized.
For now, it seems the idea remains a future consideration.