EXCITING HAPPENINGS OF PREGNANCY: SPERMS

Great numbers of sperms are present in seminal fluid. The volume gradually accumu­lates until intercourse occurs. Then, with the overpowering and very sensuous experience called orgasm (known colloquially as a ''climax''), between two and four ml of fluid are deposited high up into the female's vaginal tract. The act is known as intercourse, and the emission of the fluid is referred to as ejaculation.

This represents the culmination of copulation (intercourse), and for the male is the most climactic part. It is associated with enormous psychological overtones for both sexes. Indeed, it is the tremendous physical and mental impact of this event that has given "sex" (in its fullest meaning) such forceful connotations in the world at large.

Because the erect male penis is firm and elongated during intercourse, the seminal fluid is deposited usually at the far upper end of the vagina. In the fluid there are myriads of actively swimming sperms, with their tails thrashing madly about. The number may be as high as 700 million, although on average, it is around the 200-million mark.

Imagine this: There are enough sperms present in one single ejaculation to totally populate the entire United States of America in one fell swoop! Or it would populate a less populous nation such as Australia fifteen to twenty times over! But the truth is that only one single sperm is required to produce the anticipated pregnancy!

This represents nature's absolute attention to detail. From the strictly biological point of view, nature's task is to guarantee reproduction of the species. Therefore, to be absolutely certain this takes place, a superabundance is generally provided.

The many attractions of intercourse, the male-female relationship, and the pleasurable sensations to be derived from physical contact are another capricious ploy of nature. But sensible couples realize that the implications of sexual intercourse, although pleasurable and a physical and mental delight, are best reserved for the marital unit. The flow-on - namely, the production of a new life -requires much more than the promiscuous casual relationships that premarital or extramarital sex can offer. New life means the need for a home that can succour and care for it, in all aspects.

Once orgasm and ejaculation are complete, the physical aspects of the male partner's role are over - at least for the time being.

The sperms, with tails wildly thrashing, quickly find their way through the cervical canal into the womb, which is technically known as the uterus. The cervix is the neck of the womb, jutting into the upper part or vault of the vagina. A narrow canal allows penetration into the inner part of the womb, which is lined with special cells called the endometrium.

If intercourse occurs about midway through a menstrual cycle, then the chances of encounter­ing an egg (or ovum) are quite high.

Several thousand sperms will manage to penetrate into the inner part of the womb but untold thousands perish in their fight to gain entry.

Branching out from either side of the uppermost part of the womb are two canals which lead into the Fallopian tubes (or oviducts). The tubes are several inches in length, and they end at a point closely related to the ovary on each side.

Once a month, the ovary produces an egg or ovum. There are two ovaries, one on each side, which again indicates the attention paid by nature. If one should become destroyed for any reason, there is always the back-up second one on the opposite side.

When a female baby is born, its ovary contains thousands of primitive eggs. When puberty occurs at the age of nine years or onwards, the ovaries suddenly commence activity, and produce an egg on a regular twenty-eight-day cycle. In a twenty-eight-day-cycle woman, this occurs on about the fourteenth day. The egg comes to the surface of the ovary, and bursts through the surface, to become free in the pelvic cavity.

 

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GENERAL HEALTH