Can a human hermaphrodite get itself pregnant?

My mind is on a philosophical trip lately ...just questioning all possibilities.

Well after doing some reading and critical thinking, I was wondering if this would be possible. For the existence of a hermaphrodite who has both functioning sexual organs ..and if that person can get themselves pregnant ...

........and what the philosophical and metaphysical ramifications would be...

Also, if even possible, would the resulting child also be a hermaphrodite?

on south park...yes

i suppose if there was a functioning uterus..........

but then it would basically be a clone??

wierd wild stuff

reply to post by dominicus

Well that's one group of words I didn't expect to see together, but interesting question none the less.
Apparently the answer is yes, sometimes. Not sure how the offspring would turn out.
www.madsci.org...
answers.yahoo.com...
Now the act of one self fertilizing is what raises my brow! There could be no accidents, only intention, no?
Unless one a had wild night of restless sleep and the 2 organs somehow got tangled.

spec

Here's one answer:

www.straightdope.com...

Could an intersex person get him- / herself pregnant (or as doctors put it, "autofertilize")? Well, think about the necessities for pregnancy: a sperm, an egg, a way for the two to meet, a uterus for fetal development, and the proper hormone levels to ensure the baby doesn't turn into a squid. Most intersex folks are unable to provide at least one of these critical bits. Surveys suggest functioning ovaries are fairly common in the intersexed; pregnancy and birth don't happen often, but they happen. Functioning testes are rarer, but again not completely unknown. Functioning ovaries and functioning testes, however, plus functioning everything else — well, I suppose I can propose one far-fetched scenario where it could possibly happen. But as a practical matter: get out. Remember, the idea in intersexuality typically is that you get a mix of male and female pieces. You don't get two complete sets.

To find a living being that can get itself with child, we need to turn elsewhere in the animal kingdom, and even there the pickings are slim. Hermaphroditism is common in some species; so is having fully functional sets of male and female organs at different stages of life. Despite this, autofertilization is rare, mostly limited to certain earthworms and such. I did come across an oddball case involving an intersex rabbit which, having already birthed more than 250 baby bunnies, became pregnant twice in a row after being placed in isolation. When researchers investigated they found both ovaries and testes (although the latter seemed to be infertile), plus some strange sex chromosomes. What can I say? Nature coughs up some weird #.

The only way I can imagine self-fertilization happening in a human — and I'm telling you, this one's a reach — is in a chimerical individual, formed of two embryos that fused. Would the child of such a person be a clone? Of course not, nudnik. First, you'd have to duplicate the genetics of an individual whose makeup was, by definition, an irreproducible accident. Second, the two fused embryos would be fraternal twins (one's male and one's female, right?) and thus have different genes. Third, the chromosome-level mechanics of sexual reproduction (surely you remember that fascinating discussion of meiosis from sophomore biology) would ensure that the genetic deck got a good honest shuffle. So while the child of an autofertilizing hermaphrodite would certainly be a close relative of its parent, it’d be a far cry from a xerox copy.

— Cecil Adam

even if they can... i really hope they don't. spread the genes around, you know?

What would it say on the birth certifcate? Mother and Father both Joe Hermaphrodite...I guess chid support would be paid to yourself...

reply to post by dominicus

Can a human hermaphrodite get itself pregnant?

do you mean philosophically - or metaphysically?

:-)

Yeah, I like the parasitic twin explanation. If you had a parasitic twin down there, maybe it would be possible. But that would be like having sex with a brother.

Ack.. Just choked on my tea laughing at the picture that sprang to mind... Theoretically it would be possible.. But the resultant straight line family tree wouldnt be viable past a couple generations.. Not to mention an entire new definition of inbreeding.. Erm.. Laughing to much to answer further.. Maybe they should stock up condoms to be safe.. Apologies couldnt resist the last bit..