I teach anatomy and physiology at a university, so I was fascinated with the movie Junior. I spoke with our resident embryologists and yes folks - this pregnancy was possible, given perfect implantation in the peritoneal (abdominal) cavity and precisely timed hormone supplementation (and obviously a C-section). However rare, an egg can implant in the wall of the abdomen just like the wall of the uterus, and the placenta will grow there as well. This is from the doc I work with:
"Hormones from the trophoblast cells stimulate impacted tissue to develop vascular and glandular tissue. The fallopian tube isn't vascular enough (or stetchy enough) to produce a viable placenta for long enough. The peritoneal membrane, however, can produce a viable placenta. Peritoneal pregnancies are viable; the biggest danger is if implantation occurs on the surface of an organ such as the kidneys and draws blood flow away from that organ. Otherwise, I believe that peritoneal pregnancies can go to term. Their placenta will even produce all of the pregnancy hormones to stimulate breast development, uterine contractions, and dilation of the birth canal."
To which I replied - "So the movie Junior could actually be real?"
"Yes. If the male were given hormone supplements, that could happen. Delivery would be Caesarian, so successful delivery would not be contingent on Arnold pushing through the contractions.
There was an online blog a few years ago about a male who went through this procedure and had a baby. It was never substantiated, so no idea if it's true or not.
So I guess ethics and general freakiness are the only things standing in our way of male pregnancies?
