The Womb Molds Life: A Theological and Ethical Inquiry into Surrogacy and Genetic Selection

Reproductive technologies are increasingly separating biological functions that were once experienced as a single reproductive process. Surrogacy can distinguish genetic, gestational and social parenthood; preimplantation genetic testing can introduce selection into reproduction; and emerging research on embryo models, genome editing and extra-corporeal gestation raises questions about the future boundaries of human development. This article examines these developments through a bioethical and theological lens, using the womb as both a biological environment and a theological symbol of dependence, embodiment and relational becoming. It argues that reproductive technology should be assessed neither by technological capability nor by reproductive autonomy alone, but through a framework that integrates human dignity, bodily integrity, child welfare, justice, non-discrimination, stewardship and intergenerational responsibility. Particular attention is given to the ethical risks of commodifying reproductive labour and of allowing genetic selection to reinforce discriminatory assumptions about disability and human worth. The discussion then places these questions within African and Nigerian contexts, where infertility carries significant social meaning and assisted reproductive technologies are developing amid regulatory gaps. The article concludes that the central ethical question is not whether technology can eventually perform functions associated with the womb, but whether technological power can be exercised without turning human life into an object of manufacture, selection, or exchange. Human becoming remains an embodied and relational process even when aspects of reproduction become technologically mediated.