It also soon became apparent that sex may have medical consequences as well, and that science was not able to detach them. Free sexuality was never an earthly paradise restored, but it may have been an honorable experiment that failed. No failed experiment is without value. In losing the illusory Garden of Eden of free sexuality, we should have the adult maturity to learn that sexuality has emotional consequences that cannot be wished away or willed away. There is a lot of debate whether Edenic innocence meant no sex.
Life means death.
Sex is only an adjunct. I agree with Ted that innocent sex is an illusion, at least for adult humans, who are moral actors. I disagree with Ted's conclusion that the image of Eden is toxic to healthy human functioning. That is too strong a judgment. An unreal image may be a fantasy world, but a fantasy world is not toxic to human functioning if adult humans recognize that it is an unreal image or a fantasy world.