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. 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 keeping the process going 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 ones can become fertile in their resulting sex, the end result would be that a biologically male body was capable of bearing a child. It's worth noting that that some female-to-male transsexuals choose to interrupt their hormone treatment and become pregnant, while still identifying and living as male. This is possible for individuals who have not had a hysterectomy, and therefore still have functioning ovaries. One example is Matt Rice (ex-partner of writer Patrick Califia), who 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 rather than male ones. If such an individual develops a uterus, in rare cases in vitro fertilization is possible [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. It has been shown as a result of alien-human interaction on TV, in at least 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, slavery, and gender. Some science fiction writers have picked up on these issues, in "cross-gender" ways--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 are 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 fanfiction; 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 unexplained.
See also
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.