The Sperm and the Egg

The Sperm and the Egg

Andrew Roberts

PSY/265

Lauren Lappe, M. Ed

April 06, 2014

The Sperm and the Egg

At some point in all of our children’s young lives they will start to ask questions about their sexuality. Some of those questions can be why it is that girl’s pee sitting down, or why is it that boy’s pee standing up? Where do babies come from and how did my sister get into mommies belly? These are just some of the questions that I know I dreaded when those questions came to light by my four year old daughter when my wife was pregnant with our second daughter. Most of us parents try and use either the story of the stork, or some tell the story of the birds and the bee’s to illustrate the conception process for these young children would not be able to comprehend the scientific version of where babies come from. My wife and I sat down and explained too our daughters what is actually happening to them each month when they started menstruating so that they would understand what is happening to their bodies and in their minds now that they are fifteen and twelve.

First we needed to find some really explicit books that actually showed pictures of the inner workings of the female and male reproductive systems which include the vagina and the penis. “During a woman’s reproductive years, from puberty to menopause, only 400 or so ripened ova, typically 1 per month, will be released by their follicles for possible fertilization.” (Rathus, S. A., Nevid, J.S., and Fichner-Rathus, L. 2011). We first explained that little girls are special for they are able to have babies then explained the inner parts of the vagina. The vagina has four parts, the cervix, uterus, and two ovaries which are connected to the uterus by the fallopian tube. We explained that girls are born with all the ova which is the female reproductive cell in their bodies which is about 2 million that they will have in their life span. “During a woman’s reproductive years, from puberty to...