Most of us must had asked our moms during our childhood – “where did I come from?” She must have replied - “You are the God’s gift”. Then gradually as we were growing up we came to discover - a man meets a woman, they make love and nine months later a baby pops out! But do you know exactly how it happens? Or where the sperm and the eggs come from and how they mingle together to create a new life? Here goes the fascinating biological process behind the birth of a baby.
How An Egg Is Created
We all know pregnancy originates from the two pea-nut like oval organs attached to either side of the female uterus – also known as the ovary. The ovaries contain the egg cells, which is the mother’s contribution in the formation of a baby. The eggs are there in the female ovaries even before the mother is born. Every female human being is born with up to 450,000 eggs in her ovaries. A high percentage of the eggs dies off almost immediately and the rest steadily decrease in number as she gets older. After the female body attains puberty, every month a single egg is released by the ovary which is capable of creating a new life. This process starts with the first ever menstrual period, usually at the age of 11-14 and concludes when the menopause arrives, usually between the ages of 45 and 55.
Every month, usually during the middle of the menstrual cycle, one to thre e eggs residing inside the ovaries start to reach ripeness. The ripest egg is then released by the ovary and it enters the canal leading from the ovaries to the uterus – the canal is known as fallopian tube. This process of releasing an egg is known as ovulation. The exact time of ovulation depends on the duration of menstrual cycle, the ripening of the eggs and different types of hormones.
The Making of Sperm Cell
The male genitals keep on producing millions of microscopic sperm cells all the time after he attains puberty. While the women bodies are born with all the eggs they would need through-out their life cycle, men have to make sperm on a regular basis during their adult days. Normally a male human being starts producing sperms at the age of 13-16 years. The creation of sperms is a constant process and it takes about 64 to 72 days for a new sperm cell to be created inside the human body from the scratch. The average life-span of a human sperm ranges between 2 to 4 weeks and hence the sperm factory inside the male body always keeps on producing new sperm cells.
Despite of a men producing millions of sperms, only one can fertilize each egg after having an intercourse. Genetically there are two types of sperm cells – one with X chromosome and the other with Y chromosome. The gender of the baby depends on which type of sperm fuse into the egg cell - sperm having an X chromosome will make a baby girl, whereas sperm containing a Y chromosome will create a boy baby .
What Happens While Making Love
The love making ends with an orgasm. That’s an wonderfully pleasurable experience, but most importantly it triggers an important biological function. The male orgasm propels sperm-rich semen into the woman’s vagina. The female orgasm creates wave-like contractions which help pull the sperm to travel further into the cervix.
Although there is no scientific proof to explain which sexual position is best suited to get pregnant, some experts believe that the man on top missionary position and the entry from behind position are best because these positions allow deeper penetration. After having the orgasm, while both the male and the female bodies relax,at that time a great deal of activity is taking place inside the female body. Those millions of sperm have begun their quest to find the one illusive egg, and it's a battle which can be associated with Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory. The sperms faces several obstacles and if it can survive till it reaches its destination, pregnancy occurs. The first obstacle that the sperms face is the acid level in vagina, which can be deadly to sperm. Then comes the cervical mucus, which is a the toughest territory to swim across.
The sperms that survive the mucus test still have a long way to go. They need to travel from the cervix to the fallopian tubes, through the uterus. The fastest sperm can reach the egg in as little as 45 minutes, while the slower ones may take up to 12 hours to reach their destination. If a sperm reaches the fallopian tubes before the egg has been released by the ovary, it can live there for about 12-24 hours. So there is still a chance of conceiving if the female body ovulates within this time frame.
And then the real miracle begins when the egg gets fertilized by the sperm. The genetic material from the sperm combines with the genetic material in the egg to create a new cell, which is the first building block of a new human body - known as the embryo. The embryo then sets on its final trip, from fallopian tube to the uterus, and travels the rest of the way down the fallopian tube and attaches itself to the wall of female uterus, this journey takes another three days to complete. This is how a new life gets created inside the mother’s womb as the sperm completes its incredible journey.