An immoral proposal to use “brain stem dead” women to act as incubators for babies should be rejected for the ethical problems it presents. The idea of “whole body gestational donations” goes back decades, but it has recently been resurrected in an essay by University of Oslo ethicist Anna Smajdor, which has prompted further media coverage and debate. 

“I suggest if we are happy to accept organ donation in general, the issues raised by whole-body gestational donation are differences of degree rather than substantive new concerns,” Smajdor argued.