Commentary on pregnancy in outer space: A leap too Far?

If you want to answer this question, we can also consider the individuals born in space and ask if they have been wronged in any fundamental way by being born in suboptimal circumstances (which may be biological, environmental or both).

Their ability to function sufficiently well to live a life they value is paramount. It is important to consider that a life worth living would be preferable to a life without meaning.

Insofar as future scientific knowledge on embryonic, foetal and neonatal development in space indicates that it is likely that space-born children will have a positive outlook, then bringing them into being would not be wrong. (There may well be other reasons not to do so, for example, a future space colony’s or spacecraft’s inability to sustain a particular number of additional lives at a particular point in time, but these do not count fundamentally against having children in extra-terrestrial environments.)

Are terrestrial ethics suitable for space?

There are still many questions to be answered about what steps can legitimately pursue this goal, even if there is a long-term ethical justification.

When (if ever) and under which conditions, for example, should we allow conception (or a realistic simulacrum of it) to occur in space?