Can there be human reproduction in space? Experts debate this possibility in a hostile environment | NASA | United States | TECHNOLOGY

What is known so far from limited laboratory and human studies of previous missions is that space, “an increasingly routine workplace” today, is “a hostile environment” for human biology to thrive. This manifests itself in several conditions known to be detrimental to healthy reproductive processes, particularly altered gravity, cosmic radiation, and circadian disruption.

For example, while studies in animal models have shown that short-term radiation exposure negatively alters female menstrual cycles and increases the risk of cancer, this review found limited reliable data from male or female astronauts after longer space missions. The effect of cumulative radiation exposure on male fertility remains a “critical knowledge gap.”

What makes the need for evidence more crucial is the increased time that more people now spend in space. Data recorded to date from female astronauts on shuttle missions reassuringly indicate that rates of pregnancy and subsequent complications are comparable to those of women of the same age on Earth, but little has been reported so far from longer duration missions in either men or women.

This, the authors write, will require new evidence to guide diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic strategies in extraterrestrial environments.

While pregnancy remains a contraindication to spaceflight and menstruation is often prevented by hormonal methods, some technologies in automated laboratory techniques for fertilization and cryopreservation can be aligned with the operational demands of reproductive research and practice in space.

“Advances in assisted reproductive technologies often arise from extreme or marginal conditions, but quickly overcome them,” says Giles Palmer. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is highly transferable because it addresses situations where reproduction is biologically possible, but structurally limited by environment, health, time or social circumstances, restrictions that already widely exist on Earth.

Although the scenario of human reproduction in space currently belongs more to science fiction than to reality, the perspective nevertheless demands ethical considerations, from the simple revelation of pregnancy in space travelers or its genetic analysis. Furthermore, it seems likely that space research will extend further into reproductive biology, which could also raise ethical questions. Clear policies are slowly being developed, but there are still no widely accepted guidelines on these issues. Nor is enough known about the risks of pregnancy on long-duration space flights.

IVF technologies in space are no longer purely speculative, according to Palmer. “It is a foreseeable extension of already existing technologies. Gamete preservation, embryo cultivation and genetic analysis are mature, portable and increasingly automated technologies. As human activity moves from short missions to a sustained presence beyond Earth, reproduction moves from an abstract possibility to a practical concern.”

Therefore, the report argues that it is necessary to act now, not because TRA in space is imminent, but because the deadline for setting limits is closing. Treating these concerns as speculative means failing to understand how reproductive technologies are incorporated into practice: gradually, discretely, and often justified after the fact. In this context, urgency means anticipated responsibility, because delayed governance is denied governance.

“As the human presence in space expands, reproductive health can no longer remain a policy blind spot,” said Fathi Karouia, lead author of the study and a NASA research scientist. “International collaboration is urgently needed to close critical knowledge gaps and establish ethical guidelines that protect both professional and private astronauts, and ultimately safeguard humanity as we move toward a sustained presence beyond Earth.”