Timber and Bones
By the Writer
Socratease
Does Life Start at Conception?
Let’s imagine building a house. When the plans are drawn, construction begins, and brick by brick, a frame and some sketches become something tangible and complete. There’s a start date and a deadline — a chronology showcasing the house’s development from the first day to the last.
Before a house can even exist, first, an idea must be created. Let’s call this conception. At the conception stage, the house is merely an idea and has not been fully formed. But we know that without the idea, the house would cease to exist.
The idea is gradually brought to life over a number of intricate stages. Architects learn the brief, draw up initial sketches, create 2D or 3D drawings of the house, and more. So much detail goes into it before it even reaches the contractors.
The site is cleared, skeletal structures are built with timber, then brick, and the roof is tiled. Professionals such as electricians are brought into the project, walls are plastered, and the installations of the kitchen and bathroom are completed.
When would you say the house’s existence began? When we could see it in a sketch? When the first brick was laid? When it had windows, a toilet, a sink? Or are you waiting for the walls to be painted and the final curtains to be hung?
I believe life starts at conception. In this essay, we’ll explore the steps to creating a baby, why I believe life starts at conception, how this can co-exist with abortion, and an idea I have about denial.
CONCEPTION TO COMPLETION
Pregnancy could be compared to building a house. A simplified project flowchart could be: Conception → Development → Completion
Conception
Of course, there are definitional variations of conception. I’ll mention a couple below.
Cambridge Dictionary [1] defines it as:
The process of a male and a female sex celljoining and causing a baby to start to form.
Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists [2] defines it as:
When an egg is fertilised by sperm and then starts to grow in the womb.
A female’s ovary releases an egg during ovulation, which travels through the fallopian tube. When ejaculation occurs during unprotected sex, sperm swim from the vagina to the fallopian tubes, with the sole purpose of finding an egg to fertilise.
Only one sperm manages to break through the egg’s outer layer and fertilise it. The sperm and egg combine to form a single cell called the zygote. The zygote continues to move through the fallopian tube until it reaches the uterus. While travelling, it divides into two cells, then four cells, then more cells. Once the zygote reaches the uterus, it is a growing cluster of approximately 100 cells called a blastocyst.
The blastocyst then attaches itself to the uterine lining, which is called implantation. When this happens, the cells continue to divide, some developing into a fetus and others into a placenta. [3]
Embryonic Stage
The cluster of cells begins forming human characteristics. It’s no longer called a blastocyst — it’s called an embryo. “Structures and organs like the neural tube (which later becomes the brain and spinal cord), head, eyes, mouth and limbs form. The cells that will form the fetal heart begin to cluster around five to six weeks and can pulse. Buds that will become arms and legs also form around the sixth week. By the end of the eighth week, most of the embryo’s organs and systems take shape [4].”
Fetal Stage
This is the final stage before birth. During this period, the embryo turns into a fetus. The fetus gets its assigned sex, and the major organs and body systems continue to grow and mature. Fingernails, eyelashes and hair also grow. The fetus is able to move its limbs. The majority of growth happens in the fetal stage. [4]
I appreciate this is a simplified summary of pregnancy, but my argument remains. Conception is the first stage of development, and without it, you wouldn’t exist.
OUR UNIQUE DNA CODE
DNA, otherwise known as deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism. It is made up of two long strands, arranged in a spiral. You may have heard of the double-helix structure.
DNA carries our genetic code. “The DNA from any two people is 99.9% identical, with that shared blueprint guiding our development and forming a common thread across the world. The differing 0.1% contains variations that influence our uniqueness [5].”
Your unique DNA code is created at conception. No, you have no organs at this stage, no limbs; you cannot feel, you cannot think, but you will. And you will be you — because of your unique DNA code.
At conception, a unique human begins their journey.
Pro-Abortion
I previously compared building a house to a biological process. People don’t build houses accidentally. But they do conceive babies accidentally.
People also don’t build babies. We can’t reassemble and repackage a baby if we don’t want them. The process is far more sensitive and difficult to navigate.
My view is that, yes, life starts at conception and I cannot deny myself that fact; however, I am simultaneously for abortion. I don’t often see this combined argument. For lots of people, it is one or the other.
Of course, there is a scale — abortion at any stage is not always appropriate. There are guidelines, rules, and regulations to adhere to under the UK’s Abortion Act 1967. [6]
It may sound bad — I believe life starts at conception yet I’m pro-abortion. This means that I accept the death of a potential fully formed person. If it’s not my body, it’s not my choice. And I pass no judgement on someone who aborts their child (perhaps I would question the mental and physical well-being of someone if there were multiple, flippant abortions).
Women should have bodily autonomy. It’s as simple as that. Everyone should choose what to do with their body and their child. I appreciate some won’t equate a fetus to a child, but I do.
I also understand that at conception, there’s no guarantee of life. But there’s also no guarantee of death.
The Denial Hypothesis
Watching discussions and debates on abortion, lots of pro-abortion arguments surround specific fetal development stages. A fictional example would be, “I believe that life starts between weeks 5-8, when the brain becomes active.”
It occurred to me that perhaps people fixate on the fetal developmental stages because it justifies abortion. If we can rationalise the removal of a fetus by pinpointing life to a specific stage, it makes it a lot easier. There is more comfort in aborting a bunch of cells rather than a baby. Do we focus on fetal development and neglect conception because of guilt?
Consciousness and awareness are also discussion points. If the fetus isn’t considered conscious, then it can’t feel pain or experience emotions like sadness. There are many studies on this. For example, the RCOG (Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists) has reviewed the evidence surrounding fetal awareness on a couple of occasions. The second report (2010) stated that the cortex is necessary for pain perception and that connections from the periphery to the cortex are not intact before 24 weeks of pregnancy. They therefore concluded that a fetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior to this stage. [7]
This is where we could debate what makes something living, and what makes something unliving. Is it consciousness? In order to live, does one need to have capacity to suffer? I understand there are levels to life, but that isn't a strong enough argument against mine — no human life can exist without conception; therefore, I believe life starts then. Let us not forget the creation of our unique DNA code that makes us who we are.
Sources:
[1] Cambridge Dictionary: Conception
[2] Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists: Conception
[3] Cleveland Clinic: What Is Conception?
[4] Cleveland Clinic: Fetal Development
[5] National Human Genome Research Institute: Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
[6] Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists: Abortion Care
[7] Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists: Fetal Awareness