Everyone knows where babies come from, but few people appreciate the extraordinary and in some cases completely weird processes that have to work right in order for a new life to form. Dr. Allen Wilcox from the NIEHS discusses the key steps of human conception and early pregnancy including the window of days in which a woman can conceive, some of the factors that affect a couple's chances of conceiving, and the new options for infertile couples created by modern technology.

1. Cold beer. Hot food. Cool Science.
Tonight! @ 7pm
The Mysteries of Human Fertility:
On Sex, Fertile Days, and Why the Rabbit Dies
Allen Wilcox MD, PhD
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
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2. What are an average couple’s
chances of conceiving in one
menstrual cycle if they stop using
any contraception?

3. What are an average couple’s
chances of conceiving in one
menstrual cycle if they stop using
any contraception?
25%

4. What are an average couple’s
chances of conceiving in one
menstrual cycle if they stop using
any contraception?
25%
In 3 months 50%
In 6 months 66%
In one year 90%

5. Female reproductive tract

6. Ovary

8. SPERM

9. How many days in each cycle is a
woman fertile?

10. How many days is a woman fertile?
• Six days:
– Five days before ovulation
– The day of ovulation

11. The perilous journey of the fertilized egg

12. Fertilized human eggs
DAY 2 DAY 3

14. A woman needed a kidney transplant. Her
adult children were tested as possible
donors.
After testing, the doctors told the woman
that her children were not really hers.

15. A woman needed a kidney transplant. Her
adult children were tested as possible
donors.
After testing, the doctors told the woman
that her children were not really hers.

16. A woman needed a kidney transplant. Her
adult children were tested as possible
donors.
After testing, the doctors told the woman
that her children were not really hers.
Human chimerism.

17. “ICSI” – intracellular sperm injection

18. What are the chances that
an implanted blastocyst
will die in utero?

19. What are the chances that
an implanted blastocyst
will die in utero? 33%

21. Cold beer. Hot food. Cool Science.
Q&A
Q: What can biology tell us about
when a human life begins?
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22. Cold beer. Hot food. Cool Science.
August 11 @ 7pm
The Nuclear Renaissance
Next David McNelis, Ph.D.
Month Director, Center for Sustainable Energy,
Environment and Economic Development
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