The Science of Male Pregnancy
October 28, 2007 by Gabrielle
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Maybe it’s too late at night to be blogging. Maybe I’ve worked too long today. My eyes crossed when I saw this today. But the Dwayne Medical Center swears that the experiment of male pregnancy is no joke.
It’s true that many of the people involved in this project (including Mr. Lee) are indeed artists — and Virgil Wong has created an art installation of Male Pregnancy for exhibit at the PaperVeins Museum of Art — but yes, Mr. Lee is really pregnant.
Of course, several other websites claim that it is exactly that – a joke, a hoax, an urban myth. Thank goodness for Snopes.com which tells me to:
Follow the links from the “Credits” section and eventually you will find a disclaimer.
But I looked and I simply couldn’t find the “ficticious website created by a single artist statement” they said I would. So now, my brain starts working harder than it should. Could it be possible? Would any male really agree to such an experiment. How would it be physically possible to carry a child in one’s “abdominal cavity?” It’s not, right?
Ok, Gabby. Let’s think clearly now. No date on the site. That’s suspect. No physical address given for the “medical center.”"Mr. Lee’s pregnancy journal” is nothing more than a pop-up that says it will be back online shortly. A Google search on the “dwayne medical center” presents me with a link with this description:
Innovative miracles of modern medicine, such as nanodocs. [Contains fictitious information]
Phew. Ok. Someone, please, tell me this is old news and I am just late to the game.
And then tell me to go to bed.
Years and years ago I read a true experiment where they impregnated a male baboon who successfully supported the pregnancy until it was removed (fairly early on)
They put an embryo (actually, probably several now that I know more about this stuff) and one implanted on to the large intestine and grew there for a while. The researchers claimed that the baboon could have carried to term, but that would imply that an ectopic outside of the uterus would be ok too . . . I kind of doubt that.
Having the admin stuff, I saw the response that is awaiting moderation by Kami and I feltl the need to share what I saw on this topic. Being a RN and nerdy type, I frequent Discovery Health. I know, sad isn’t it?
Moving on… there has been 2 cases as of recent, 10 years or so, both in Britain where the mom has carried a baby, not all the way to term, but to 28 weeks or so by it being attached on the outside wall of her stomach. In fact, the one women had a hysterectomy buy still had ovaries and a cervix, so the sperm swam upstream and some how met up with the egg and that is where it connected and attached. Mom and baby made it just fine, a little early however!
I do not remember the term that was used for this type of pregnancy as it was on very late. Being that I had to have a hysterectomy after the birth of my last child due to hemorrhaging, I thought hmmm… what if? But then I came to my senses as I do not even have a cervix or a whole ovary. So I don’t think that would work, unless it was super sperm and could swim through my vaginal cuff. But highly unlikely!
Wow!
My first thought: I am glad that I was not crazy to spend so much time seriously considering the viability of the concept. You both have pointed out that pregnancy outside of the traditional womb is indeed a possibility, if only for the short term. That in itself is amazing.
Kami, thank you for sharing! And Kendra, I am always thankful for your RN “nerdy” info – although I wouldn’t use that adjective to describe you or the valuable data you share.