"Some kind of academic dominance game was going on. Those can get nasty. I think some of their theories got sent and some got buried. Numbers, too. One theory had to do with the endocrinal flux in the uterus. The numbers we got suggest that the actual ebb and flow of biochemical products as the mother is awake, asleep, afraid, hungry, tired, sexually stimulated, whatever... is a form of communication between mother and child. It's another nutrient... an emotional nutrient, if you will, as important as blood or oxygen. When you try to create a computer program to simulate the messages that a mother sends to her child, you have to remember that it is a feedback loop between the mother and the fetus. Thousands of fetuses were studied, and the ways that their mothers responded to them were recorded, and a refinement of everything that was learned was created for use in the creches. Except a camel is a horse designed by committee. There is a difference between the clumsy elegance of the human body and the sophisticated, intellectual choices made by a committee of experts deciding which endocrinological experiences are good for baby. They tried to round out the experience. This mood swing was inappropriate, that orgasmic response pattern was a biochemical form of child abuse, a mother experiencing anger is damaging her child. The liberals swung the profile one way, the conservatives another. Too many morphemes. Too much adrenaline. Chill those kiddies out."
— Beowulf's Children by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes
The twenty-first century human reader may be confused by the way Corporal Tbeki uses the term "in vitro," which literally means "in an artificial environment outside the organism." After all, were Tagon to discriminate in favor of the terran mammal style of reproduction, he'd be leaning towards those practicing in vivo (within the organism) fertilization and development techniques, and specifically in utero (within the uterus) although not all in vivo reproduction takes place in a so-named organ.
This is the 31st-century. Most in vivo or in utero sophonts will choose to resort to in vitro reproduction using fine products like the over-the-counter "Wombulator 3500" ("from the people who brought you the Ambulator 1650!") which not only cuts down on the personal inconvenience associated with gravidity, but also cuts down on the mess of labor and delivery (which is a good thing, since Wombulator delivery typically occurs on the kitchen counter.)
This is the 31st-century. Most in vivo or in utero sophonts will choose to resort to in vitro reproduction using fine products like the over-the-counter "Wombulator 3500" ("from the people who brought you the Ambulator 1650!") which not only cuts down on the personal inconvenience associated with gravidity, but also cuts down on the mess of labor and delivery (which is a good thing, since Wombulator delivery typically occurs on the kitchen counter.)
"Baby in a backpack
But the pack is on the front, so it's a bum-bag
But the bag is higher up and on a chest strap
Norman Reedus got that baby
In what's basically a backpack"
But the pack is on the front, so it's a bum-bag
But the bag is higher up and on a chest strap
Norman Reedus got that baby
In what's basically a backpack"
