As space tourism gets cheaper and missions keep getting longer, scientists are now raising a question that used to be limited to science fiction.
What happens if humans try to have children in space?
Real talk? We don’t really know. But a new paper from an international research team, including a scientist from NASA, says that human reproduction beyond Earth is no longer a theoretical problem. As space travel shifts from short visits to sustained stays, fertility and pregnancy have become realistic concerns rather than distant hypotheticals.
The researchers describe space as a “hostile environment” for human biology. Microgravity, higher radiation exposure, and limited medical infrastructure create conditions that have never been tested for pregnancy or early development. While astronauts are carefully screened and monitored, embryos and fetuses have no such protections.
When Biology Meets the Void
Radiation is one of the biggest unknowns. Studies in animals suggest it can disrupt menstrual cycles and increase cancer risk. What it might do to a developing embryo in orbit or on a long mission to Mars remains largely unstudied. The team says that the gap is no longer acceptable.
More than half a century ago, two breakthroughs reshaped human limits: landing on the Moon and successfully fertilizing a human egg outside the body. According to the researchers, those two paths are now converging. Assisted reproductive technologies have become portable, automated, and increasingly common. Space, meanwhile, is turning into more of a workplace.
Combine those trends, and IVF in space is no longer a wild idea. It is a foreseeable extension of technology that already exists.
The paper does not advocate for conception beyond Earth. Its purpose is the opposite. The authors argue that without standards, oversight, or shared ethical frameworks, irreversible harm could occur before anyone realizes the risks.
Dr. Fathi Karouia, a research scientist at NASA and senior author of the study, says reproductive health can no longer sit outside space policy. As commercial flights grow and missions stretch from months to years, the absence of industry-wide standards and protocols around fertility risks can no longer be ignored.
The study calls for international cooperation, more biological research, and clear ethical rules before humans attempt anything resembling reproduction off Earth.
For now, having babies in space remains closer to fiction than fact. But the researchers warn that trajectory matters. Once we begin living beyond Earth for extended periods, the question will not be whether reproduction is possible.
It’s gonna be whether anyone is prepared for it.
Sources: EurekAlert, RBMO Journal, Space.com, Manchester Evening News