Men seek treatment to become pregnant

SEVERAL prospective "male mothers" have approached fertility experts after Lord Winston's statement that modern technology could make it possible for a man to bear a child.

Male 'mum': the future?
The fertility pioneer sparked a national debate when he said three weeks ago that a combination of IVF techniques and surgery could implant a foetus in the abdomen of a man and, in theory, enable him to carry a pregnancy to term.

Another fertility expert, Dr Simon Fishel, director of the Centre for Assisted Reproduction in Nottingham, has now been approached by three British heterosexual couples seeking a male pregnancy. He believes, however, that although it may be theoretically possible to implant an embryo in the abdomen of a male, there would be many risks, including the possibility of massive internal bleeding and abnormal foetal development.

"Making men pregnant should remain in the realm of theory, because any attempt to do so is likely to end in catastrophe," he said.

This weekend, however, it emerged that an American doctor is planning the first operation and is seeking investors to set up a male pregnancy clinic.

The technique would involve attaching the foetus to muscles inside the abdomen or even fashioning an artificial womb from abdominal tissue. Female hormone treatment would be vital for encouraging the placenta to attach. The child would then be born by caesarean section.

Others say that ethical issues outweigh the medical obstacles. Janet Soskice, a lecturer in philosophy, religion and ethics at Cambridge University, said the motives of men who wanted to become pregnant had to be questioned.

A big problem for such men would be the need to take large amounts of female hormones, which would cause dramatic changes in their physique. It means that transsexuals, former men treated to become women, would probably be among the first to undergo the procedure because such changes would have been induced by the drugs used to help them change sex.

Sarah Wilson, who was born a man, said she would be willing to try such a procedure. Wilson, 32, of Greenwich, southeast London, said: "I always think of the film Junior in which Arnold Schwarzenegger gets pregnant and I always wish it could be me. If I could afford it, I would go for it."

Some men's organisations are, however, firmly opposed to the idea of male pregnancies. Ian MacKay, a spokesman for the support group Families Need Fathers, said children's lives would be blighted if other people learnt how they had been brought into the world.

"There's more to this than the technical ability and the wish of the intending 'mother' to accept the medical risks," he said. "They have to think very carefully about the impact on the baby to be born without a natural parent."