Male pregnancy is the making 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 female organisms. In most heterogamous species, the males produce the spermatazoa and rarely host the zygote.

Natural occurrence in animals

The Syngnathidae family of fish includes seahorses, the pipefish, and the weedy and leafy sea dragons. This family of fish have the unique characteristic where females lay their eggs in a brood pouch on the male's chest, and the male then fertilizes and incubates the eggs. It is the only family in the animal kingdom to which the term "male pregnancy" has been applied.^[1]

Speculation on possibility of induced pregnancy in males

Theoretical possibilities include the use or not of a womb, and is not known to have ever been attempted.In Britain, doctors would have to obtain permission to carry out such treatments on a man, from the the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. ^[2][3]

Use of a uterus

Uterine transplants have been done in mice, rats, rabbits and pigs, with offspring only in rodents.^[4] The first transplant in humans, was performed in Saudi Arabia in 2000^[5]. The transplant survived for 99 days and had to be removed eventually,but it managed to produced two menstrual periods.^[6].

Uterine transplants from female animals to males have been successfully performed.This advance makes it possible for a male receiving a womb and bearing a baby.^[7]

Related to this method,of "male pregnancy", an artificial womb could be used, but this is still far off.^[8]

No uterus

This idea has been floating around by various people for some time,including in a book of famous doctor Robert Winston.^[9][8][7]

Surgical intervention may make it possible for a male to sustain a pregnancy, through the induction of an abdominal ectopic pregnancy, but it would be dangerous and has never been attempted (abdominal ectopic pregnancies sometimes happens in females). Fertilization would be done in vitro by implantation into the abdominal cavity, and starting the process would require the male to take female hormones—blurring the line between the sexes.^[9][8][7]

However, there are serious misgivings about this process' safety,which has the same shortcomings as in females.^[9][8][7]

In women, ectopic pregnancies are generally removed as soon as possible. While a fetus of ectopic pregnancy is typically not viable (that naturally occur in females), very rarely, an abdominal pregnancy has been salvaged in females (typically women, a procedure too expensive for animals). The delivery requires a Cesarean section to remove the baby and the placenta. Removal of the placenta is the real danger because it forms such intimate connections with surrounding blood vessels that a massive hemorrhage is likely. Implantation may also involve other structures in the abdomen, including the bowel and it is possible that parts of other organs might have to be removed. Several physicians who are well-accustomed to advanced and dangerous forms of ectopic pregnancies have to be on-hand to handle any complication. The fetus is also in danger of complications because it is deprived of the protection of a uterus.

Human male pregnancy in popular culture

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 feminist utopian novel 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.^[10] In the Internet comedy series Red vs. Blue, the character of Tucker is impregnated by a parasitic embryo from an alien creature. Roger Corman's B-film Night of the Blood Beast [5] (1958) featured a male scientist being impregnated by an alien, and in the ebook Father of Dragons^[11] the male protagonist falls pregnant to a female dragon. Sheri Tepper uses male pregnancy as a form of political commentary in The Fresco when intergalactic peace officers take politicians at their literal word that all life is sacred despite any personal drawbacks.

Male pregnancy is frequently seen in fan fiction. Such stories are marked as the genre "mpreg", a portmanteau of the words "Male" and "Pregnancy" which was coined by two writers under the pseudonyms of Taleya Joinson and Texas Ranger, who created and maintained what is believed to be the first fan fiction archive dedicated to stories of this genre in 1998.^[12]

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 Dionysius being born from his thigh. Male mythological figures may also become pregnant when 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 Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu gives birth to Lord Bramha, from his navel. A lotus emerges from his navel carrying Bramha within. More like a placenta and a womb, only outside.

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 somewhat scientifically feasible; the former does not address the matter. Television episodes and series have featured such pregnancies as a result of alien-human interaction, including Futurama, American Dad!, Alien Nation, Dilbert and the episode "Unexpected" of Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as in the computer game The Sims 2. There are also rumors and hoaxes^[13] on the subject for actual achievements.

• If a "Sim" (a human simulation from the computer game The Sims 2) stargazes with a telescope, he/she may be abducted by aliens. If it is an adult male, he will get pregnant with an alien baby. Likewise, the Sim will eventually give birth like female Sims do.
• In an episode of Charmed, Leo becomes pregnant with Piper's baby for a short term.
• In Full House Jesse carries around a "sympathy path" to simulate being pregnant as a bet with his wife and an elderly man claims to have seen a pregnant man.
• In the first episode of Torchwood Captain Jack mentions that he once got pregnant.
• 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.
• An episode of Sliders depicts a universe where men carry children to term because women lost the ability in a catastrophic disaster.
• In an episode of Futurama, Kif becomes pregnant with Leela's DNA, but claims Amy as his "Smizmar" and therefore the mother.
• The Cosby Show's seventh season features a dream sequence episode where a volcanic eruption releases spores causing male pregnancy and several characters fall victim; they ultimately give birth to nonhuman objects such as a model sailboat and a submarine sandwich.
• In the movie Billy Madison, Billy makes a wisecrack about Eric getting pregnant (referring him to being a potential soccer player).
• In the sitcom Step by Step, Frank and J.T. make a bet with Carol and Dana that they can handle being pregnant better than women by stuffing really heavy objects in their shirts and walking around like that for a few days. They ultimately give up and lose.
• Sam Beckett occupies the body of a pregnant woman during an episode of Quantum Leap and at the show's conclusion gives birth to the child. The Quantum Leap premise is such that along with Sam, and possibly his friend Al, the viewer is the only one capable of seeing actor Scott Bakula's physical form in place of the currently possessed body, prompting speculation as to what it must have looked like during the child's delivery. Nevertheless, the director of photography refrained from including footage of Sam's genital area.
• A hoax site, "www.malepregnancy.com" monitoring a fictitious male pregnancy. Mr. Lee has been "expecting" since December of 1999.^[13][14]
• In an episode of Round The Twist, Pete Twist becomes pregnant after urinating on a tree inhabited by a female tree spirit. The subsequent child is also a tree spirit, eventually birthed through Pete's navel, and takes up residence in a once-sickly tree next to its mother's.
• In Beavis & Butthead, they watch a film in which the female character gives birth. This leads to Beavis believing he is pregnant too but it turns out that he was merely having muscle spasms.
• In an episode of "Big Wolf on Campus", Merton becomes impregnated by a female space alien.
• In the halo-based series "Red vs blue", Tucker becomes ill, and Church calls Doc, whom O'Malley still controls, for help. After Doc diagnoses Tucker with male pregnancy, Andy reveals that the Alien had impregnated Tucker through parasites, and the latter gives birth off-screen.
• In an episode of Lost, we discover Juliet got to make a male mouse to get pregnant, but the pregnancy wasn't viable.

Related

Fetus in fetu

Males with parasitic twins are not pregnant, but there are some similarities. For example, the parasitic fetus sometimes attaches to the host with an umbilical cord and grows in the host's abdomen. In one rare case, an Indian man named Sanju Bhagat carried his twin brother until he was 36.

Pregnancy in intersex situations

Some intersex people with XY chromosomes develop entirely female bodies and, if the individual develops a uterus, in vitro fertilization is possible.^[15] This discussion is about humans,but it can be transposed without modification in many animals.

Pregnancy in transsexual

Females that identify as males, can naturally get pregnant,as any other normal female.Although the individual is genetically and physiologically female, from an identity standpoint, this could be considered a "male pregnancy".^[16]

Some female-to-male medically reassigned transsexuals who interrupt hormone treatments can become pregnant, while still identifying and living as male—this is possible for individuals who still have functioning ovaries.^[17] For example, Matt Rice (ex-partner of writer Patrick Califia), bore a child by artificial insemination.^[18]

References