Reminder of Certain Notions Concerning Human Reproduction

The intention here is not to put forward theories, but to advance ideas based on facts: Theories are by nature open to change; when approached from a theoretical angle, science is always in a state of flux: What is valid today may be disproved tomorrow. A suitable basis for comparison is therefore one, which rests on scientific data that are not open to change, having been firmly established and checked through experimentation, and having possibly even been effectively put into practice.

It is an established fact that human reproduction takes place in a sequence of processes, starting with the fertilization, in the Fallopian tube, of an ovule that has detached itself from the ovary half way through the menstrual cycle. The fertilizing agent is a cell taken from the male, the spermatozoon, tens of millions of which are contained in a single cubic centimeter of sperm. All that is required to ensure fertilization, however, is a single spermatozoon, in other words, an infinitely small quantity of spermatic liquid. The seminal liquid and the spermatozoa are produced by the testicles and temporarily stored in a system of canals and reservoirs. At the moment of sexual contact, they pass from their place of storage into the urinary tract, and on the way,, the liquid is enriched with further secretions that do not, however, contain fertilizing agents. These secretions will nevertheless exercise a considerable influence on fertilization by aiding the sperm to arrive at the point where the female ovule is fertilized. Thus spermatic liquid is a mixture: It contains seminal liquid and various additional secretions.

Once the ovule has been fertilized, it descends into the uterus via the Fallopian tube; even while it is descending, however, it has already begun to divide. Then it literally `implants’ itself by insertion into the thickness of the mucosa and the muscles, once the placenta has been formed.

As soon as the embryo becomes visible to the naked eye, it appears as a very tiny mass of flesh devoid of any distinctive parts. There it develops, gradually acquiring a human shape after stages during which certain parts, such as the head, are considerably larger in volume than the rest of the body; these subsequently reduce, while the basic life sustaining structures form: the skeleton, surrounded by muscles, the nervous system, the circulatory system, the viscera, etc.