Scientists in China are developing a humanoid robot designed to mimic pregnancy and give birth to a live baby, according to The Telegraph.
Dr Zhang Qifeng, founder of the Guangzhou-based company Kaiwa Technology, said the project is already at a “mature stage”. The plan is for the robot to carry a foetus inside an artificial womb from conception through to delivery.
Dr Zhang, who earned his PhD at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told The Telegraph: “Now it needs to be implanted in the robot’s abdomen so that a real person and the robot can interact to achieve pregnancy, allowing the foetus to grow inside.”
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The prototype humanoid is expected to go on sale next year for about £10,000 (Rs 11.75 lakh). Reports in Chinese media say the machine has been designed to replicate the full process of pregnancy, although details about fertilisation and implantation remain unclear.
During gestation, the developing baby would remain inside the robot’s body in artificial amniotic fluid, creating a womb-like environment. Dr Zhang noted that the idea builds on earlier research, including experiments in which premature lambs were kept alive for weeks in an artificial “biobag”.
The development has already raised legal and ethical questions. Dr Zhang said he has been in talks with Guangdong provincial authorities to prepare policy and legislation to regulate the technology.
Some researchers believe the approach could help address rising infertility rates in China, which increased from 11.9 per cent in 2007 to 18 per cent in 2020.
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But critics have questioned both the ethics and feasibility. According to The Telegraph, some Chinese medical experts argue that human pregnancy involves complex biological processes, such as maternal hormone secretion, that cannot be replicated by technology.
Others have voiced concerns about the social impact. Feminist writer Andrea Dworkin previously warned that artificial wombs could lead to “the end of women”. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wrote in 2022 that such technologies risk “pathologising” pregnancy.
Supporters, however, argue that artificial wombs could free women from the health risks of pregnancy and childbirth.
