Overview
- An international expert review published in Reproductive BioMedicine Online argues reproductive health in space now requires immediate policy action.
- The authors describe space as hostile to human reproductive biology, highlighting radiation, microgravity, circadian disruption, toxic dust and closed‑system contamination as key hazards.
- Evidence remains sparse for long‑duration missions, with the effect of cumulative radiation on male fertility flagged as a critical knowledge gap.
- Data from women who flew short Space Shuttle missions show subsequent pregnancy rates and complications comparable to Earth, but comparable data for longer missions and for men are limited.
- Assisted reproductive technologies are mature, portable and increasingly automated, prompting calls for international standards, ethical guidance and reliance on simulations and non‑human models rather than human pregnancy experiments.