Getting pregnant is being a participant in the miracle of life. The woman’s womb becomes a receptacle that will nurture a new life until such time when another person is born into the world after nine months. In very clinical terms, a woman can get pregnant when her egg is united with a man’s sperm at the time of fertilization or conception called oogenesis.
This takes place sometime after intercourse. The zygote then attaches itself to the lining of the uterus from where it receives nourishment with the cells dividing and multiplying until when a foetus or baby is formed and grows in the womb until it is time for it to come out into the world. Getting pregnant is one of the most natural events in the propagation of the species. However, in many societies a lot of taboos, rituals and oftentimes down right superstitious beliefs often surrounds it.
A man usually woos a woman first before she allows herself to get pregnant by him. This ritual can get very complicated and is often accompanied by many false starts. At the very worst, a man can force himself on a woman even if she is not open to his overtures resulting in rape. This can be the ultimate betrayal of a woman as the member of the specie capable of procreation. At its best, the wooing ritual as a prelude to becoming pregnant can be a most enjoyable and often unforgettable time spent together by a man and a woman.
A woman does not have to learn how to get pregnant, nature takes over after the initial intercourse and she just becomes pregnant. One of the ironies of the modern world is the fact that females who are still too young to take on the responsibilities of being a nurturing mother can already become pregnant and have a baby. Teen pregnancies are on the rise. On the other hand, there are mature women who are ready, willing and able to have a baby but are unable to have one for one reason or another. The cause can be either physiological or sometimes even psychological.
This can be a very frustrating series of events for the very young mom who is not ready for motherhood and for the mature woman, wanting to be a mom. Unwanted pregnancies have been a favorite topic of many TV soap operas. The same is true for couples who want to have children but are unable to have them. Some women are cast aside by their husbands for this reason. From as far back as biblical times, a woman’s inability to bear children was looked down upon and in a number of instances needed divine intervention to rectify.
It used to be that in certain societies, a woman has to be married before she can be pregnant. However, morals have changed and in many countries, having babies out of wedlock is no longer a stigma nor is it frowned upon. Some women have even taken the position that their sole need for a man is only for his sperm to impregnate her so that she can have a baby to propagate the race and to satisfy the motherly instincts in her.
Regardless of how one looks like the miracle of birth, however, nothing will change the fact that it will always take a man and a woman to bring a baby into the world.
