Can we consent today to a body decades from now?

The options

The order shown is not a ranking of preference.

1. Option 1

   Commit to the full transition order

   Stable sponsorship and comparison data are obtained, but the new will and living conditions of future stakeholders are tied down.

2. Option 2

   Re-consent at each stage

   A changed will is reflected, but long-term comparison and the scale of sponsorship become uncertain.

3. Option 3

   Limited research without sponsorship

   The range of autonomy is protected, but the paths that can be experienced and research resources are reduced.

The situation as it stands

The fictional research rests on the premise of configuring bodily functions differently at several stages of an adult's life, and it does not confirm the actual benefits of any path. Decision deadline: until the long-term research sponsorship contract, 1 year.

A fictional case in 2320 · A sponsor ties the right to change one's body at each stage of life to conditions. The people, organizations, figures, and events are a synthetic premise constructed for comparison.

1. Premise 1The fictional research rests on the premise of configuring bodily functions differently at several stages of an adult's life, and it does not confirm the actual benefits of any path.
2. Premise 2The sponsor wants the originally set order kept for comparable long-term data.
3. Premise 3Participants can consent now, but changed relationships and goals decades later cannot be known in advance.

Where it holdsVoluntary bodily transition, withdrawal, and agreements on records and costs

What is still unknown

1. Unknown 1Actual costs and living support upon withdrawal
2. Unknown 2The effect of changing the order on the research questions
3. Unknown 3The will to be confirmed independently at each transition stage

Signals to decide again

• Define the observation, responsible party, and confirmation channel for verifying 「actual costs and living support upon withdrawal」, and re-judge when new confirmation changes the trade-offs of the options.
• Define the observation, responsible party, and confirmation channel for verifying 「the effect of changing the order on the research questions」, and re-judge when new confirmation changes the trade-offs of the options.
• Define the observation, responsible party, and confirmation channel for verifying 「the will to be confirmed independently at each transition stage」, and re-judge when new confirmation changes the trade-offs of the options.