14-11-2023 (AMSTERDAM) In the quest for humanity’s interplanetary survival, Dutch entrepreneur Egbert Edelbroek and his firm, Spaceborn United, are pioneering space sex research with the ambitious goal of achieving natural conception and birth in the partial gravity environment of Mars.
The challenges are immense, considering the lack of gravity in space, but Edelbroek is confident that he will witness the birth of an extraterrestrial human child within his lifetime.
“It’s important that the Earth and humanity can become a multiplanetary species. If you want to have independent human settlements beyond Earth, you also need to address the reproductive challenge,” emphasized Edelbroek.
To overcome the lack of gravity, Spaceborn United is initially focusing on conceiving an embryo in space, starting with mice. The firm has developed a disc that mixes sperm and egg cells with the goal of producing a viable embryo. The embryo is cryogenically frozen to pause development and protect it during re-entry.
While the research is currently in simulated partial gravity laboratory conditions, Edelbroek plans a launch with mice cells by the end of next year, with a timeline of “about five or six years” for the first launch with a human embryo.
However, significant ethical considerations surround exposing human embryos to the hazards of space, such as higher radiation and different gravity environments. Spaceborn’s research is paving the way for potential space tourism, considering couples on space tourism flights might want to conceive, marking a historic event.
Edelbroek acknowledges the challenges but remains optimistic, stating, “Eventually, humanity—hopefully with us—needs to achieve childbirth in space.”
