As an O.B. doctor of thirty years, and having delivered 4,000 babies, I can assure you life begins at conception.
The idea was to study fertilization in as many different phyla and organisms as possible, using the simplest possible equipment and a microscope. Biochemical approaches were not much in vogue, and running gels impossible at first.
Man is developed from an ovule, about 125th of an inch in diameter, which differs in no respect from the ovules of other animals.
Each year thousands of embryos, no bigger than the head of a pin, are created in the process of in vitro fertilization, with the support of Congress, by the way.
When it comes to fertility, there are so may things that have to go right. In any one individual, there might be one major problem and two minor ones or no major ones and seven minor ones. Throw in another person's physiology, and it's complicated. I try to give people the knowledge that they can make as many changes as they want.
I didn't know then what a sperm was, and so wouldn't understand his answer for several years. "My boy," he said, "you are descended from a long line of determined, resourceful, microscopic tadpoles-- champions every one.
Perhaps eggs are like neurons, which also are not replenished in adulthood: they know too much. Eggs must plan the party. Sperm need only to show up- wearing top hat and tails, of course.
The moment-of-conception fallacy implies that fertilization is a simple process with never a doubt as to whether it has or has not happened.
