I am old enough to remember the test tube baby and the furor that advance caused in the press. There have been other advances that have been announced with less and less critical press. We were amazed at the medical skill that allowed physicians to reattach various portions of the human anatomy that humans managed to maul, mangle, and amputate. Children who have fingers reattached after playing with the lawn mower, adults who have hands reattached after having somehow managed to get the extremity caught in equipment secretly designed to removed these appendages.

After the pacemaker, we even felt hope at the idea of an artificial heart. By the way, the man who invented the artificial heart also invented the artificial kidney dialysis machine. Come on, that will come in handy the next time you’re on Jeopardy.     

We have finally accepted transplants of the lung, heart, kidney, various portions of the eyes and various pieces of skin. Ok, I’m fine with that, but today I read something that really makes me scratch my head.

Physicians are now planning to transplant a womb. Not just a womb, but lacking sufficient living donors, they are planning to transplant a womb from a cadaver.

Let’s look at established cost. For a liver transplant, the approximate cost for the first 3 – 6 months is $6,777.50. After approximately five months, the cost is $3645.50.

Therefore, the cost for a liver transplant is $60,000 to $90,000. And a heart transplant costs $75,000 to $125,000.

Now this leads to the next question. How much is one willing to pay for a womb? (I’m not going to address the question of a used womb. I see no fine definition of the plans, going forward, but I have some questions.

How much is one expected to pay for a used womb”? Do we know whether or not the ‘cadaver’ previously bore a child? If so, is there a price adjustment? Is there a discount based on the number of times it was used?  Such as: if the cadaver, before it got dead, bore three children, does that womb cost less than a womb that is virtually new (no children)?

Now only that, the womb, which promises the possibility of pregnancy, can only be used one time. Once the pregnancy is completed – I think that’s called ‘birth’ – the womb is to be removed. Does the patient have to add the cost of removal to the entire procedure?

If the womb doesn’t work, is it possible to have another transplant? We could continue this for many such operations until a child is produced. Here, we are excluding costs.

Ok, let’s say we get passed all of the other questions. What do you say to the child when he/she starts to ask where they came from? A Used Stork?

By the time I finished reading the article, I had another question: If this works, could a man be the next subject for this procedure?

OMG!!! How would you like to explain that one to the little one?