Ethical issues of uterus transplantation

Abstract

Introduction: Uterus transplantation (Utx) is a very modern and innovative method for dealing with infertility, which raises several ethical concerns both in the scientific community and in society as a whole.
Purpose: To review and present the ethical issues raised by the uterus transplantation.
Material and Method: A systematic review of the studies published from 2014 (the first successful uterus transplantation) to April 2022 in the Greek and English language in the databases “Pubmed” and “Scopus” and studies published in the database “Google Scholar” in the Greek language. The following key words were used in the Greek and English language: “bioethics”, “ethics”, “uterus transplant”, “womb transplant”.
Outcomes: 28 references were suitable for inclusion in this review. It has been found that uterus transplantation raises many ethical questions which concern the autonomy, the consent, the safety, the procurement and allocation of the wombs, the transgender women and the access to this procedure.
Conclusion: The UTx poses considerable ethical issues. It is necessary that more research be conducted in order to clarify these questions, as it is a procedure that seems to concern more and more people.