From: rxh6@po.CWRU.Edu (Randall Holt)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Male Pregnancies
Date: 13 Oct 1992 01:06:35 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article; pashley@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Montykins) says,
>In article <1992Oct12.015811.27682@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, peterm@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Peter Mardahl) writes:
>>
>>The story goes that some guy thought it would be neat to bear
>>a child.  Some <unknown> hospital obligingly surgically implanted
>>a fertilized egg somewhere in his abdomen, and later delivered
>>the fetus by "Caesarian". 
 
>Oh, just for laughs, I'll give this one a try. No womb. No umbilical
>cord. No way to get nourishment to the child. No place for the li'l
>tyke to _be_. Just gonna sit there blocking off the small intestine?
 
>It takes a little bit more than just a fertilized egg to form a
>baby. Think "Biology".
 
> -Paul "Monty" Ashley
 
>obMontyPython: "Where's the fetus gonna gestate? You gonna keep it
>in a box?"
 
Ok Monty. Let's think about the biology. For starters, the womb (maternal
placenta) and the umbilical cord (fetal placenta) are not really attached to
each other, but are in close contact by way of membranes through which 
nutrients and gases are exchanged. So, if you can reproduce a maternal 
placenta, you can have a baby anywhere (including the shoebox in the middle
of the road). The fetus produces everything else it needs in it's own little 
world, except for delivery of food and removal of waste.
 
Now, reproducing the maternal placenta is not all that easy, but it just so
happens that the greater omentum (a sac-like membrane which surrounds the 
intestinal organs of both sexes of most (or all?) mammalia, through which 
nutrients and gases are delivered to and from the intestines is a nearly
perfect place for a budding young Gladstone to spend his pre-consiousness.
Mind you, the delivery of certain hormones are lacking, but in this day
of trans-sexual cross-posting, it's not impossible to imagine such a
scenario.
 
Most compellingly, pregnancies outside of the womb are actually quite
common. Tubal (or ectopic) pregnancies happen at a very high rate, many of
which go undiagnosed because of early, spontaneous abortion. If not, then by
6 weeks tubal rupture will endanger the life of the mother. (This is the
main reason the anti-choice laws in Louisiana were vetoed by the Gov. of that 
state, and the reason why the phrase "except when the mother's life is in 
danger" keeps popping up in these legislative attempts).
 
Besides implanting in the Fallopian tubes, fertilzed ova have been known to
attach to the ovaries, cervix, broad ligaments and peritoneal cavity 
(i.e. abdomen or greater omentum). Implant and flourish. The little buggers
are true parasites, leaching off nutrients and dumping off toxins, long before
you have to send them to college.
 
Of course, there are a few problems that would arise from male pregnancy after
the peanut-size was exceeded. We manly men (most of us, anyways) don't have the
right hip structure to carry a bowling ball on our bladders, nor do we excrete
progesterone or Human chorionic gonadotrophic hormone which induces whichever 
tissue is closest to the fetal placenta to become the maternal placenta. And 
nursing really makes the nipples hurt.
 
Now, I'm not volunteering. And I'm sure that many other more worthwhile causes
exist to spend our medical research dollars on. It's not probable, but it is
possible to get a guy knocked up. 
 
 
 
 
ObFortuneCookieUL - Man with open abdominal wound, should not use hot tub.
 
ObBillyCrystalUL - "Oooh. I hate it, when that happens."
 
ObReallyHappenedUL - A nurse I worked with once came into work, in a state of
partial shock, as her embarassingly overweight daughter had just given birth
to a 9-pounder that (so she claims) she didn't know she was carrying.

ObRichardGereUL - What if the gerbil has babies and leaves them behind?

-- 
Randall W. Holt - rxh6@cwru.po.edu     |   
Dept. Radiology MetroHealth Hosp.      | 	- Bibo ergo sum
Dept. Biomedical Engineering, CWRU     |    	
(216) 778-8296                         |	
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban