Sex + Reproduction Gifts

Human reproduction is an amazing process that starts when an egg and a sperm join together via the genitals, cells divide, a fetus grows inside the uterus and a baby comes out. Sex starts in the brain when hormones spark gonads in different bodies to make cells that can meet and make a human being! And that's just the tip of the clitoral iceberg!

Shall we go on? Let's! If two humans feel attracted to each other, their brains squish out feel-good hormones like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins. You may like the way someone smells or looks or talks, or all the things. And if you like them enough and you want to, you may want to get closer to their body.

Now if you're a girl into girls or a boy into boys, you are super lucky because you can have sex and not make a baby! The heteros (meaning "opposite" from the Greek) have the problem of getting their genitals together and running the risk of making another human. So if you want to have sex, but NOT make a human, and you are getting a vagina together with a penis, then BEWARE and get some birth control.

Why birth control? Well, when you get a penis and vagina together, a sperm and egg can get together also and make a baby. If you want a baby, great. But it you don't want a baby -- and when I mean a baby, I mean another human being, who will grow into an expensive adult human that will need emotional and financial help and support, it won't be a baby forever! -- then you gotta keep sperm away from those eggs!

Now back to the fun part. Sex itself can be any combination of body parts and genitals between all genders. Human reproduction is when babies get made from sex, so we are gonna talk about what happens when a vagina meets a penis. Vulvas, vaginas and penises come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes!

The testicles, prostate and penis work together to make sperm and deliver it to the egg inside the uterus. How does this happen? The penis gets invited into the vagina, a muscular, flexible tunnel that connects the uterus to the outside world.

The road to the uterus is difficult and dangerous. Loads of sperm get killed or lost on the way to the egg. The first sperm allowed to connect with the egg is the lucky fertilizer! After they meet, the egg changes so that no other sperm can get inside the egg.

The connected cells smush together, creating a new thing called a zygote, which becomes a morula, which transforms into a blastocyst, then embryo, fetus and baby attached to a placenta, all inside the uterus.

About 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, also known as spontaneous abortion, so baby doesn't always make it. Lots of fertilized cells and babies die in the uterus.