Male pregnancy

Male pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by the male of any species inside their bodies. The majority of all pregnancies in the animal kingdom are carried by the female. In most heterogamous species, the males produce the spermatazoa and rarely host the zygote. However, examples of male pregnancy can be found in the animal kingdom, in mythology, and popular culture.

In humans

Male pregnancy in humans has been limited to the realms of speculation, science fiction and comedy, as the phenomenon would be a biological impossibility under traditional circumstances. Male pregnancy poster relased by the Family Planning Association of Victoria (Australia) from the 1970's. Due to advances in modern medicine the concept is generally considered possible, but both the risks and the chances of success are still at foolhardy levels. The ethical concerns that would be presented by any attempt are significant.

Since men lack a womb, alternative measures would have to be made for an ectopic pregnancy. Fertilization would likely be done in vitro by implantation into the abdominal cavity, and starting the process would require the father to take female hormones — blurring the line between the sexes, from some viewpoints. Delivery would be done by caesarean section.

Should treatment of male-to-female transsexuals reach a point where post-operative females can become fertile, persons who are biologically male (though identifying and living as female) could bear children. In at least one notable case, a female-to-male transsexual chose to interrupt hormone treatments and become pregnant, while still identifying and living as male—possible for individuals who still have functioning ovaries: Matt Rice (ex-partner of writer Patrick Califia), bore a child by artificial insemination [1]. From an identity standpoint, these could be considered "male pregnancies", even though female physiology was involved.

Some intersex people with XY chromosomes develop entirely female bodies and, if the individual develops a uterus, in vitro fertilization is possible, though rare [2]. This person would therefore be pregnant despite having a Y chromosome (which is usually associated with males).

In other species

A male seahorse takes and fertilises the ovum of the female, then bears the offspring.

In mythology

Various mythologies have featured male characters birthing, but such events typically either take place in an entirely different fashion than an ordinary female pregnancy, such as Athena springing fully-formed from Zeus's forehead, or when the character has been rendered female in some way, such as the shapeshifter Loki turning into a mare to distract a stallion and ending up giving birth to Sleipnir.

In popular culture

Two comedy films centered around the theme of such an event in humans, Rabbit Test (1978) and Junior (1994), have been released. The latter's attempts are scientifically somewhat feasible; the former ignores the matter completely . Television episodes and series have featured such pregancies a result of alien-human interaction, including Futurama, American Dad!, Alien Nation and the episode "Unexpected" of Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as in the computer game The Sims 2. In an episode of Charmed, Leo becomes pregnant with Piper's baby for a short term; in an episode of Red Dwarf, Lister becomes pregnant after visiting a parallel universe where male and female are reversed and he has sex with his counterpart; and an episode of Sliders depicts a world where men carry children to term because women lost the ability in a catastrophic disaster.

Thematically, pregnancy can be related to issues of parasitism and gender. Some science fiction writers have picked up on these issues, in "cross-gender" themes—e.g., Octavia Butler's Bloodchild. Lois McMaster Bujold's Ethan of Athos features an all-male society in which men use artificial wombs, but experience many of the psychological effects of pregnancy (anticipation, anxiety, etc.). In Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, neither men nor women get pregnant, but men may take drugs to lactate and nurse the infant; the experience of "pregnancy" and the woman-only experience of nursing were sacrificed for gender equality.

Male pregnancy is not infrequently seen in fan fiction; such stories may be denoted as "mpreg". The pregnancies may be the result of advanced medical technology (e.g., experiments on Mulder from The X-Files); mystical pregnancies (e.g., Harry Potter); or are unexplained.

See also

• Pregnancy terms and definitions
• Male lactation
• Artificial womb

External links

• http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/malepreg.html - Articles on the feasibility of the endeavour.
• http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2002/05/08/opinion/5154.shtml - An editorial detailing the issue.
• http://www.malepregnancy.com/ - A hoax site monitoring the world's first male pregnancy.
• http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/malepreg.htm - A Snopes.com page that attacks the previous link.