HAPPENINGS OF PREGNANCY: WHEN CONCEPTION OCCURS

The Fallopian tube, which is very close by, has finger-like tentacles which help sweep the released egg into the tube. If at this point, the egg encounters a sperm that has managed to survive and make its way into the outer limit of the tube, a sudden fusing takes place, and a "fertilized ovum" develops.

This is the moment of conception, and at this point the heredity traits of the new life are sealed permanently. At this moment also, the sex of the new life is positively determined.

From this point on there can be no change. It is

an amazing thing that mental and physical characteristics which may not become evident for many years, perhaps decades, are intimately sealed into the newly developing life in this split second of time. At this time also, the possible production of twins, or triplets or other forms of multiple birth is determined.

Multiple pregnancy can occur from the simultaneous release and fertilization of two or more ova (the so-called "dizygotic multiple pregnancy"), or from the early division of a fertilized single ovum (called "monozygotic twins").

The incidence of twins is one in ninety pregnancies, of triplets, one in 90 x 90, and of quadruplets, and one in 90 x 90 x 90 pregnancies in Western countries. Twins are more common in Africa and Asia. Dizygotic twins are more common in families in which there is a history of twins, in women who are older, and the chance increases with larger families.

In recent years, certain hormonal products used to treat women who are having difficulty in reproducing (called infertility), seem to make some more prone to multiple births than women conceiving normally and without difficulty.

 

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GENERAL HEALTH