Beyond cis-gender women: Ethical considerations for expanding uterine transplantation
Saturday, October 14, 2023
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM ET
Location: Iron (Fourth Floor)
Uterine transplantation (UTx) opened up the possibility of gestation for individuals for whom this would have been an impossibility. Much of the ethical discourse has focused on the application of UTx for cis-gender women, but the success of UTx demands expanding the conversation to include other patient populations. One of the avenues of expansion may be offering UTx to transgender women. Early research into this possibility is already underway, and raises unique questions regarding UTx. Moreover, considering the possibility of more expansive UTx programs offers an opportunity to revisit ethical challenges concerning UTx in general. This paper presentation will first provide an overview of the current state of the ethics of UTx, and the support that exists for the potential expansion to other populations (e.g. non-cis-gender women). Presenters will then argue that there is no ethical contraindication to offering UTx to transgender women, or anyone else not assigned female at birth. This is supported by three primary and related conclusions: (1) given that UTx is offered to cisgender women, there are no distinct ethical reasons to exclude others from consideration for UTx; (2) while there are ethical concerns with offering UTx generally, these concerns do not discriminate between the sex/gender of the recipient, and; (3) offering UTx requires active steps to mitigate potential harms that may result from building and expanding UTx programs. Strategies for meeting the ethical obligation to mitigate potential harms that accompany expansion of UTx programs will then be discussed.
Margot Eves, JD, MA – Center for Bioethics – Cleveland Clinic; Jane Jankowski, DPS – Center for Bioethics – Cleveland Clinic