‘End of women’? Humanoid robots to give birth to live babies soon; all it costs is ₹12 lakh

Scientists in China have claimed that the world’s first humanoid robot surrogate could soon give birth to a live baby. The project, led by Dr Zhang Qifeng of Kaiwa Technology in Guangzhou, aims to mimic pregnancy inside an artificial womb.

The baby would grow inside the robot’s body in a womb-like space filled with artificial amniotic fluid. Dr Zhang is already in talks with Guangdong authorities to draft laws and rules for this technology.

The baby would grow for nine months and receive nutrients through a tube before birth. Dr Zhang, a PhD graduate from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said the technology has reached a “mature stage”.

“Now, it needs to be implanted in the robot’s abdomen so that a real person and the robot can interact to achieve pregnancy, allowing the fetus to grow inside,” The Telegraph quoted him as saying.

A prototype is expected to go on sale next year for around 100,000 yuan (more than ₹12 lakh). Reports say the humanoid can replicate the entire pregnancy journey, from conception to delivery.

Details of how fertilisation actually happens remain unclear. Experts have not explained how a foetus will be implanted. But, they claim that the idea is built on earlier experiments where premature lambs survived in “biobags” for weeks, the publication added.

Debate on ethics

The innovation has raised major legal and ethical debates. But, if proven successful, it could change medicine and family life forever.

It may provide a solution for rising infertility in China, which jumped from 11.9% in 2007 to 18% in 2020. Supporters see it as a radical step forward while critics worry about its moral impact.

Supporters believe artificial wombs could protect women from health risks linked to pregnancy and free them from the physical strain of carrying a child. While the debate continues, the question remains whether such machines can ever truly replace human gestation.

However, critics argue that the technology is “problematic” and unethical because it removes the natural bond between mother and child. Medical experts doubt whether science can copy complex processes like maternal hormones.

Radical feminist Andrea Dworkin once warned that artificial wombs could mean “the end of women”, The Telegraph reported. Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia earlier cautioned that such technology could make pregnancy seem like a disease.