In the future men will be able to carry children just like women

[Alex K]

Your point in favour of having babies develop in a mother's womb is not lost on me, I'm half describing what I find desirable, and half the direction I expect society to take. Where the line runs between those two for me personally, I'm not completely certain myself.

I think the external development and delivery of the child would be highly detrimental to the bond a mother has with the child. The woman's body goes through massive hormonal change, nesting instincts kick in, and the moment of birth for all it's pain, is a major bonding moment as a cocktail flood of hormones rush in stimulating love and empathy as well as prepare the mothers body for breast feeding.

But I suppose they'll have a pill for all that.

Science will have to tell how many of these things can be overcome by technical means. Many children are already born via C-Section (as was ours, for urgent medical reasons, not as a choice), and indeed they do have a pill for what you mention, namely the above-mentioned oxytocin infusion. I myself, in my role of having been a mere onlooker, wasn't lacking any love and empathy either - our brains do that hormone stuff even without the direct physical contact, and how.