Male pregnancy: Is it possible?

Men have long been fascinated with pregnancy and the ability to procreate sans female. Zeus, the father of the Greek gods, with the help of a blacksmith, gave birth to a daughter. Loki, the shape shifter of Norse mythology, foaled a child after he was debauched by a stallion. More recently, in the movie Junior (1994), Arnold Swartzenegger became pregnant from an unprotected alien encounter and Agent Mulder ended season seven of the X-Files expectant, because of a classified experiment.

Now, scientists have joined the speculators and begun to muse on the feasibility of human male pregnancy. They believe that male pregnancy is not beyond the realm of possibility: It could be done – in theory -- and would undoubtedly create its own unique and dangerous set of challenges.

Foreplay

First, to make his body receptive to a pregnancy, the man would need to be injected with female hormones. These would be the same female hormones that infertility doctors administer to postmenopausal women who use donated eggs. The Urban Legend debunking site Snopes warns that “The child would have to be male, though, or else the necessary hormone injections would effectively castrate the male host."

The Deed

Once the man had changed the chemistry of his body to a more feminine pH, he would need to be impregnated by means of in vitro fertilization. After the embryo had been implanted in the man’s abdomen using laparoscopic surgery, scientists believe it would attach itself to the omentum, a fatty, blood rich tissue located near the intestines. This would occur just as in a female ectopic pregnancy, when the embryo attaches within the fallopian tubes. However, ectopic pregnancies usually are aborted as soon as they are diagnosed, because of the danger they pose to the mother and the unlikelihood of these fetuses being brought to term.

The Birth

A Caesarian section would be required in order to free the man’s little bundle of joy from the confines of his abdominal cavity. This operation would be very dangerous for a man, with a high risk of serious internal hemorrhaging and infection. The placenta would have to be left inside the man’s abdomen for fear of damaging internal organs. This would lead to a massive infection. A man’s abdomen, unlike a woman’s womb, is not well-suited for pregnancy.

Despite the risk, some men continue to fantasize about the pregnant life and the joys of child birth. Mr. Lee, whose story can be found at Male Pregnancy, lives out his fantasy at the fictitious RYT Dwayne Medical Center – a sort of electronic art installation. He has been expecting since December of 1999, and one suspects it will be a long while yet before any stork lands at the Lee residence. The website, which masquerades as a real hospital, flirts with those ideas that lurk at the edge of the scientifically possible.

As of yet, no real male pregnacies have occurred, but the idea continues to entice heterosexual couples with a way to share equally in childbirth and gay couples with the possibility of biological children. But for now, male pregnancy is best left to the seahorses.

Further Reading on Male Pregnancy

• Urband Legends debunks Male Pregnancy
• Gentlebirth the Possibility of Male Pregnancy
  
• Daily Princetonian
• Mr. Lee's Male Pregnancy