Welcome to the fertility clinic of the future! Using speculative design to explore the moral landscape of reproductive technologies

The evolving field of reproductive technologies greatly alters our practices of conception and pregnancy. It is thus crucial to develop such innovations in a democratic and sustainable manner through public participation. To date, participation has mostly focused on patients or health professionals deliberating on technological risks, benefits, costs, and healthcare experiences. Thereby, the opportunity is missed to consider broader social and moral implications. Speculative design has been presented as a promising way to open up deliberation on the impacts of new technologies. In this study, speculative design was used to gain insight into citizens’ views and concerns about the social and moral implications of the new reproductive technologies. Six themes of concern were found: the rights of the unborn; access and equality; social implications of individual choices; society as a community; ecology; and the value of wonder. Notably, the latter two issues are not commonly described in the participatory literature on reproductive technologies, indicating that speculative design is suitable for broadening the debate by including issues that have not been addressed yet. Furthermore, the study brought insight into the motivations and complex values that lie behind arguments in which the naturalness of reproductive practices is emphasized. A point of critical reflection is that to broaden the range of reflections probed by speculative design even more, both the designers and the audiences should become more diverse. If this is achieved, it is suggested using speculative design in the context of public deliberation with a more direct influence on innovation trajectories and as a means for the public to become more skilled in critically engaging with imagined futures.

W. Willems, A. Heltzel, J. Nabuurs, J. Broerse, F. Kupper