This is John Burke, Class of 1940.
This is Mary Burke, Class of 1940.
This is John Burke, Jr. , Class of 1966, according
to the fond hopes of his parents.
Someday, you may be in John Burke's shoes, or in
Mary Burke's high-heeled slippers.
What are you going to do, or say, when something like this
takes place in your own household?
Mary, I forgot to tell you, Jim wasn't at the office
today. He took Helen to the hospital.
Oh, that's a thing. I guess they're both pretty
excited. Do you think I should telephone the hospital?
Well, Jim will call as soon as the baby is born.
I don't know which of them will be satisfied. I know
Helen has a heart set on a girl.
And I know Jim has his heart set on a boy.
I can't wait. I'm going to telephone the hospital now.
Dad, how can Aunt Helen and Uncle Jim have a baby
if they don't know what they want?
No, it doesn't matter, Johnny. They'll love their little
baby, whether it's a boy or a girl.
Dad?
Yes?
Where do babies come from anyhow?
Why, mothers bring them into the world.
But why do mothers bring them?
Johnny, by the grace of heaven, mothers are the only ones who know
how to bring babies into the world.
That's right, Dad. Mothers do bring babies into the world.
But sooner than you may think now, your child will be
old enough for a full explanation.
So let's brush up on it, you and I, and together review
the human reproductive system.
A model will help you review the fundamentals.
The female sex organs, as seen from outside, consist of several folds of skin or
tissue called the labia or lips.
These labia cover the urethra through which urine is passed
and the entrance to the vagina.
Cutting through this model, these organs can be seen as they actually appear in
vertical section through the midline.
Here is the vagina.
The vagina has a moist lining called the mucous membrane.
Its walls lie in folds, which can be easily stretched.
A membrane partly covers the entrance to the vagina.
This is the hymen or maidenhead.
Its absence does not mean lack of virginity, since it may be
accidentally broken during childhood.
The uterus, shown here in a front view, is a small pear-shaped organ,
normally only about half the size of a fist.
Below it is the vagina.
And connected to it at the top are two tubes, the fallopian tubes,
and the two ovaries.
In a section through these organs, we can see the cervix.
This is the narrow neck of the uterus, and it extends into the vagina.
The walls of the uterus are very thick, but may be stretched so that the uterus
can enlarge to many times its original size during pregnancy.
One end of the fallopian tube is open so that eggs, or ova, from the adjacent
ovary may easily enter and be carried to the uterus.
The ovary is a gland in which eggs are constantly being formed.
Each almond-shaped ovary is about an inch and a half in length.
Besides producing eggs, these glands secrete fluids into the blood, which are
responsible for the development of female characteristics in other parts of the
body, such as breasts, hair, and skin.
But from puberty on, the primary function of the ovaries
is the production of eggs.
In a closer view, we can watch the development of an egg.
Remember that while this one is growing, all the others are growing also, but
usually only one egg reaches maturity every 28 days.
After reaching full development, it breaks through the ovarian wall and passes
into the fallopian tube.
This breaking through of the egg is called ulation.
The fully developed egg is only one two-hundredth of an inch in diameter.
When mature, each egg is capable, if fertilized, of developing into a baby.
Moreover, each egg carries all of the hereditary characteristics of the mother.
Since the function of the uterus is primarily that of receiving the fertilized
egg and nourishing the developing child, the walls undergo a regular cycle
of preparation for this job.
The lining of the uterus becomes soft and spongy and
engorged with blood and fluids.
This progresses during the final stages of the development of the egg, its
extrusion from the ovary, and its passage through the tube.
If fertilization of the egg does not occur, the uterine wall lining breaks down
and is discharged from the body as the menstrual flow.
If we call this onset of menstruation the first day of the menstrual cycle, we
can watch the various elements as they recur during each 28-day period.
After the menstrual flow stops, about the fourth day, the uterine
lining begins to build up again.
Meanwhile, eggs are being formed in the ovaries.
In the normal cycle, ovulation occurs about the 14th day, and an egg is
extruded into the fallopian tube.
It starts its slow passage toward the uterus, but if not fertilized, it dissolves
away or disappears in the tube.
After the 28th day, menstruation occurs again, and the cycle is repeated.
This then is the structure and function of the female reproductive organs.
The ovaries, which every 28 days discharge mature eggs into the fallopian tubes.
The uterus, which during the same period gets ready to receive the egg in case it
is fertilized by contact with the male sperm.
If fertilization of the egg does not occur, the egg itself dissolves or
disappears, and the uterine wall linings, now deprived of their special function
to nourish the developing child, break down and are
discharged as the menstrual flow.
Although the average menstrual cycle usually occurs every 28 days, in many cases
it may be somewhat longer or shorter.
Because it depends on the proper functioning of many glands, its normal time
schedule may be easily upset by nervous strain, emotion, or illness.
The process is regularly repeated, however, every 28 days, unless fertilization
of the egg occurs and pregnancy begins.
These are the facts of the female reproductive system.
This is the information which you, Dad, should clearly understand before you can
pass on correct knowledge to your child when he is old enough to understand.
Yes?
Why do babies have fathers?
Although there wouldn't be any babies without fathers.
But why?
Well, your child is inquisitive.
One day you'll have to tell him why babies do have fathers.
And that brings us to the next chapter in our review of the story of
reproduction, the structure and function of the male reproductive organs.
The external male reproductive organs, as shown in this drawing, consist of the
penis and the scrotum.
The scrotum contains the testicles.
In a section view, we can see that the penis and testicles are
connected by a long tube.
This is the urethral canal.
It extends from the penis back past the prostate gland and seminal vesicles to
join the tube leading from the testicles.
In this same diagram, we can see also the bladder, which
empties into the urethral canal.
The testicles in men correspond to the ovaries in women because they both are
glands in which the reproductive elements are formed.
If we examine a section of the testicle, we find that it is composed of small
compartments filled with two kinds of cells.
One kind produces an internal secretion which is carried in the blood and results
in the development of male characteristics, such as skin,
beard, voice, and body structure.
The second, or lining, cells are constantly being changed into spermatozoa.
Spermatozoa are the male sex cells.
These spermatozoa, or sperm cells, are microscopic single cells, which are
propelled by the lashing motion of their long tails.
Like the ovum or egg of the female, each sperm cell contains all the hereditary
characteristics which are passed from the father to the child.
Spermatozoa are constantly being formed in the testicles and are stored in the
mass of curled tubes seen here.
If not emptied during sexual intercourse, they are periodically
emptied during sleep in nocturnal emissions or wet dreams.
Wet dreams are a perfectly normal body function, which is nature's way of
getting rid of stored-up sperm.
Therefore, the common belief that intercourse or masturbation are necessary to
relieve the pressure of stored-up sperm is absolutely not true.
Millions of spermatozoa are stored, ready for ejaculation.
During intercourse, the penis is in a state of erection.
This is caused by the spongy tissues of the penis becoming engorged with blood.
The sperm passes up through the ducts where fluids from the glands
are added to form the semen.
The semen then flows through the urethral canal and is
deposited into the female vagina.
We return now to the female organs with the egg slowly moving through the tube.
Male sperm are deposited at the upper end of the vagina near the cervix.
They begin moving up into the uterus.
Sperm may remain active here for several days.
The sperm move into the tubes and approach the egg.
In this diagram, both the egg and the spermatozoa are greatly enlarged in
proportion to the size of the organs shown.
Normally, fertilization takes place while the egg is in the tube.
Here we can see this fertilization in closer view.
After one spermatozoan enters the egg, no others enter.
The tail drops off. The nuclei of sperm and egg merge and the development begins.
The fertilized egg develops by first splitting into two, then into four,
eight, and so on.
From this fusion of a single egg and a single spermatozoan, the child develops.
These early divisions take place while the fertilized egg
is still moving through the tube.
As you may recall, the uterine wall has, during this part of the menstrual cycle,
been preparing to receive this egg.
The wall is rich with blood and lymph from which the growing
organism will draw its nourishment.
Nesting of the egg against the uterine wall brings about many glandular actions.
These first cause a cessation of menstruation, and then, during the course of the
egg's development into a baby, produce the many secondary physical and
physiological characteristics of pregnancy.
After the first two weeks, this fertilized egg enters the embryo stage.
The embryo itself lies along the inner margin of the yolk sac and is, in turn,
connected by a stalk to the membrane through which food will be absorbed.
At this time, the embryo is still almost microscopic in size, but the largest
portion is the yolk sac, which provides early nourishment.
The development of the embryo is an interesting and highly complex process.
During the first four weeks, the embryo increases rapidly in size.
The yolk sac becomes progressively smaller as it is absorbed, but the mechanism
for feeding from the mother has, in the meantime, been developed.
At the fourth week, buds have appeared where the limbs will develop, and the
embryo has now taken definite form.
During the next month, the limbs assume more specific shape, and the head becomes
large as the brain develops.
The fetus, as it is now called, resembles most other
mammals at a similar stage of growth.
During the third and fourth months, the fetus develops all the human facial
characteristics, the fingers and toes, and the external sex organs.
At the end of the fourth month, the fetus averages about six inches in length,
and its heartbeat may be heard for the first time.
Development from this point on is that of extensive growth and refinement of
individual organs and tissues.
Within the uterus, the child
usually occupies this position.
Here is the umbilical cord, which passes from the child to the
placenta, commonly called the afterbirth.
It is through this cord and placenta that nourishment is carried to the growing
fetus from the first month to the day of its birth.
In a closer view of this mechanism, we see that no direct connection exists
between the circulatory system of the mother and that of the child.
Food is carried in the mother's blood to the uterine wall.
The placenta carries the bloodstream of the child to close
contact with the uterine wall.
By osmosis, food is carried across the spongy tissue from the mother to the
child, while wastes from the child are similarly passed across
to the bloodstream of the mother.
This is the only contact between mother and child.
There is no common bloodstream, as is frequently thought.
As a matter of fact, all of the child's blood was formed within
its own developing body.
At full term, nine months, the child has reached an average length of about 18
inches and an average weight of about six to eight pounds.
At this stage, the child is a completely developed living organism.
The better you understand all of these facts, the better you will be prepared to
discharge one of the greatest responsibilities of parenthood, the intelligent
education of your child, to the facts of human reproduction.
Daddy, why do they in Helen have to go to the hospital to have a baby?
Well, today most babies are born in hospitals.
Are they sick when they're born?
No, but mothers, in bringing babies into the world, need careful attention, and
the hospital is the best place for that.
Right, Dad. But you also know that an expectant mother requires medical attention
from the very beginning of pregnancy, because from this time on, marked physical
changes take place in her body.
Here we see first the normal female figure, showing the uterus and vagina.
As pregnancy continues, the uterus becomes more distended, with corresponding
changes in body contour.
The stomach, intestines, liver, and other organs are pushed out of normal
position. Posture is changed.
You can also see the enlargement of the breasts in
preparation for feeding the infant.
Yet, as marked as these physical changes appear, they are only temporary. Shortly
after childbirth, most of them will disappear.
Here, in a closer view, we see the fully developed child just before birth,
in the usual position for delivery.
Here is the uterus, greatly extended, the cervix still unopened, the vagina,
and the pelvic girdle formed by the hip bones through which the child will pass.
All but the pelvic girdle are tissues which can easily stretch.
During previous examinations, the physician has informed himself of the position
of the child and the size of the pelvis.
And now he awaits the expected body action.
This begins with rhythmic contractions of the uterus.
These contractions start at long intervals, but gradually become frequent.
The greatest contractions occur at the upper end of the uterus, so that the
pressure is directed toward the cervix.
As the contractions become even more frequent, the cervix opens.
The vagina stretches to permit passage of the child, and, aided by contractions
of the abdominal muscles, the child is brought into the world in a normal manner.
This, then, is the story of reproduction, a story which any parent should fully
understand, not only to ensure the arrival of a healthy child, but also to cope
with the sensitive minds of children, your children, throughout successive stages
in their constant search for knowledge.
On your answers may well depend the physical and emotional
health of future generations.
I just phoned the hospital. They've had twin boys.
Twins, eh? Well, poor Jim.
What do you mean, poor Jim?
I'm just thinking of all the questions he's going to have to answer.