Study: Pregnancy Not a “Power Struggle” but “Finely-Tuned Collaboration”

A new study looked at pregnancy in six different mammals—including humans, mice, guinea pigs, macaques (monkeys), tenrecs (very unique mammals), and opossums (marsupials). Now, the researchers picked each of these because they believe they represent “key branches of the mammalian evolutionary tree.” Of course, that’s nothing but evolutionary storytelling—their interpretation of the evidence starting with an evolutionary worldview (and it had nothing to do with the observational science in this study!).

The study “analyzed single-cell transcriptomes—snapshots of active genes in individual cells” (basically, they mapped the activity of genes in these cells) along the “fetal-maternal interface: the site in the womb where a baby’s placenta meets the mother’s uterus” because that’s where two genetically unique individuals “are in intimate contact and constant interaction.”

And because mom and baby, from the moment of fertilization, are genetically distinct, “this interface has to strike a delicate balance: intimate enough to exchange nutrients and signals, but protected enough to prevent the maternal immune system from rejecting the genetically ‘foreign’ fetus.”

The baby is not part of a woman’s body.

Before we even get into the results of this study, this is a good reminder that the mantra “My body, my choice” that we so often hear from the pro-abortion (pro–baby murder) side is scientifically bankrupt. The baby is not part of a woman’s body. The baby is genetically distinct and would be rejected by the mother’s immune system if God had not designed a complex anti-rejection system into the uterus! Yes, we are truly “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

And this study uncovered more about that system, including that:

Pregnancy isn’t just a battle between mother and fetus, but often a carefully coordinated partnership. These ancient cell interactions, including hormone production and nutrient sharing, evolved to support longer, more complex pregnancies and may help explain why human pregnancy works the way it does today.

As said elsewhere in the article, “Pregnancy may look like a power struggle, but it’s actually an ancient, finely-tuned collaboration.” And these researchers (because of their evolutionary presuppositions about the supposed “tree of life”) believe this collaboration goes back 100 million years! In other words, no evolution in 100 million years!

The lead author of the study shared,

These findings suggest that evolution may have favored more coordination between mother and fetus than previously assumed. . . . The so-called mother-fetus power struggle appears to be limited to specific genetic regions. Rather than asking whether pregnancy as a whole is conflict or cooperation, a more useful question may be: where is the conflict?

Pro-abortionists like to claim that a baby is a parasite attacking the mother’s body. Nothing could be further from the truth! Everything about a woman is designed to nurture life, and the placenta, the amazing organ God designed to sustain life in the womb, is put there so mom and baby can cooperate, not so baby can steal nutrients from mom and deviously get around her defenses!

In other words, women’s bodies are designed to carry and cherish human life—something that is not a surprise to those of us who start with God’s Word. One of his first commands to humanity was to be fruitful and multiply. Children are a blessing from the Lord!

Of course, we live in a fallen world, and there are all kinds of sad problems with reproduction—including infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth. These are tragic reminders that this world is not the “very good” world that God made and that childbirth is now affected by the curse. But in studies like this one, we see a picture of God’s “very good” design where mother and baby work together so life can flourish.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. (Psalm 127:3)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.