| MadSci Network: General Biology |
Simple question, fairly simple answer. Not really sure to what you are refering but I will guess. Without the copulatory act it is very difficult to get pregnant. If you look at the statistics of getting pregnant (for people who are actually trying) it is quite a rare event. But, essentially if a sperm meets an egg at the right time then yes you can get pregnant. I remember the stories, sperm in a bath, in a swimming pool, on a toilet seat - these are human cells not Olympic swimmers. Chlorine, temperature, and air will destroy those little guys (or girls) pretty fast. Nevertheless, where there is a will there's a way. That one occasion where the condom breaks and the 16 year old gets pregnant - "but it was my first time" - highly unlikely but it still happens. More seriously, IVF (in vitro fertilization) involves no sex, so theoretically a couple could have a child without EVER having sex. IVF = Laboratory mixing of sperm and egg and retransplantation at the right time into the uterus. Immaculate conception is a different matter however! In simple biological terms all you need is a sperm in the right place at the right time in a woman’s cycle and you can have yourself a baby.
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