Studies in the psychology of sex, volume VI. Sex in Relation to Society by Havelock Ellis. - HTML preview

(_British Medical Journal_, May 11, 1907), "who has any sexual

defect or malformation, or who has suffered from any

disease or

injury of the genito-urinary organs, even though

comparatively

trivial or one-sided, and although his copulative

power may be

unimpaired, should be looked upon as possibly

sterile, until some

sort of evidence to the contrary has been obtained."

In case of a

sterile marriage, the possible cause should first be

investigated

in the husband, for it is comparatively easy to

examine the

semen, and to ascertain if it contains active

spermatozoa.

Prinzing, in a comprehensive study of sterile

marriages ("Die

Sterilen Ehen," _Zeitschrift für

Sozialwissenschaft_, 1904, Heft

1 and 2), states that in two-fifths of sterile

marriages the man

is at fault; one-third of such marriages are the

result of

venereal diseases in the husband himself, or

transmitted to the

wife. Gonorrhoea is not now considered so important

a cause of

sterility as it was a few years ago; Schenk makes it

responsible

for only about thirteen per cent. sterile marriages

(cf. Kisch,

_The Sexual Life of Woman_). Pinkus (_Archiv für

Gynäkologie_,

1907) found that of nearly five hundred cases in

which he

examined both partners, in 24.4 per cent. cases, the

sterility

was directly due to the husband, and in 15.8 per

cent. cases,

indirectly due, because caused by gonorrhoea with

which he had

infected his wife.

When sterility is due to a defect in the husband's

spermatozoa,

and is not discovered, as it usually might be,

before marriage,

the question of impregnating the wife by other

methods has

occasionally arisen. Divorce on the ground of

sterility is not

possible, and, even if it were, the couple, although

they wish to

have a child, have not usually any wish to separate.

Under these

circumstances, in order to secure the desired end,

without

departing from widely accepted rules of morality,

the attempt is

occasionally made to effect artificial fecundation

by injecting

the semen from a healthy male. Attempts have been

made to effect

artificial fecundation by various distinguished men,

from John

Hunter to Schwalbe, but it is nearly always very

difficult to

effect, and often impossible. This is easy to

account for, if we

recall what has already been pointed out (_ante_ p.

577)

concerning the influence of erotic excitement in the

woman in

securing conception; it is obviously a serious task

for even the

most susceptible woman to evoke erotic enthusiasm _à

propos_ of a

medical syringe. Schwalbe, for instance, records a

case

(_Deutsche Medizinisches Wochenschrift_, Aug., 1908,

p. 510) in

which,--in consequence of the husband's sterility

and the wife's

anxiety, with her husband's consent, to be

impregnated by the

semen of another man,--he made repeated careful

attempts to

effect artificial fecundation; these attempts were,

however,

fruitless, and the three parties concerned finally

resigned

themselves to the natural method of intercourse,

which was

successful. In another case, recorded by Schwalbe,

in which the

husband was impotent but not sterile, six attempts

were made to

effect artificial fecundation, and further efforts

abandoned on

account of the disgust of all concerned.

Opinion, on the whole, has been opposed to the

practice of

artificial fecundation, even apart from the question

of the

probabilities of success. Thus, in France, where

there is a

considerable literature on the subject, the Paris

Medical

Faculty, in 1885, after some hesitation, refused

Gérard's thesis

on the history of artificial fecundation, afterwards

published

independently. In 1883, the Bordeaux legal tribunal

declared that

artificial fecundation was illegitimate, and a

social danger. In

1897, the Holy See also pronounced that the practice

is unlawful

("Artificial Fecundation before the Inquisition,"

_British

Medical Journal_, March 5, 1898). Apart, altogether,

from this

attitude of medicine, law, and Church, it would

certainly seem

that those who desire offspring would do well, as a

rule, to

adopt the natural method, which is also the best, or

else to

abandon to others the task of procreation, for which

they are not

adequately equipped.

When we have ascertained that two individuals both

belong to sound and

healthy stocks, and, further, that they are themselves both apt for

procreation, it still remains to consider the conditions under which they

may best effect procreation.[462] There arises, for

instance, the

question, often asked, What is the best age for

procreation?

The considerations which weigh in answering this

question are of two

different orders, physiological, and social or moral.

That is to say, that

it is necessary, on the one hand, that physical maturity should have been

fully attained, and the sexual cells completely

developed; while, on the

other hand, it is necessary that the man shall have

become able to support

a family, and that both partners shall have received a training in life

adequate to undertake the responsibilities and anxieties involved in the

rearing of children. While there have been variations at different times,

it scarcely appears that, on the whole, the general

opinion as to the best

age for procreation has greatly varied in Europe during many centuries.

Hesiod indeed said that a woman should marry about

fifteen and a man about

thirty,[463] but obstetricians have usually concluded

that, in the

interests alike of the parents and their offspring, the procreative life

should not begin in women before twenty and in men

before

twenty-five.[464] After thirty in women and after

thirty-five or forty in

men it seems probable that the best conditions for

procreation begin to

decline.[465] At the present time, in England and

several other civilized

countries, the tendency has been for the age of marriage to fall at an

increasingly late age, on the average some years later than that usually

fixed as the most favorable age for the commencement of the procreative

life. But, on the whole, the average seldom departs

widely from the

accepted standard, and there seems no good reason why we should desire to

modify this general tendency.

At the same time, it by no means follows that wide

variations,

under special circumstances, may not only be

permissible, but

desirable. The male is capable of procreating, in

some cases,

from about the age of thirteen until far beyond

eighty, and at

this advanced age, the offspring, even if not

notable for great

physical robustness, may possess high intellectual

qualities.

(See e.g., Havelock Ellis, _A Study of British

Genius_, pp. 120

et seq.) The range of the procreative age in women

begins earlier

(sometimes at eight), though it usually ceases by

fifty, or

earlier, in only rare cases continuing to sixty or

beyond. Cases

have been reported of pregnancy, or childbirth, at

the age of

fifty-nine (e.g., _Lancet_, Aug. 5, 1905, p. 419).

Lepage

(_Comptes-rendus Société d'Obstétrique de Paris_,

Oct., 1903)

reports a case of a primipara of fifty-seven; the

child was

stillborn. Kisch (_Sexual Life of Woman_, Part II)

refers to

cases of pregnancy in elderly women, and various

references are

given in _British Medical Journal_, Aug. 8, 1903, p.

325.

Of more importance is the question of early

pregnancy. Several

investigators have devoted their attention to this

question.

Thus, Spitta (in a Marburg Inaugural Dissertation,

1895) reviewed

the clinical history of 260 labors in primiparæ of

18 and under,

as observed at the Marburg Maternity. He found that

the general

health during pregnancy was not below the average of

pregnant

women, while the mortality of the child at birth and

during the

following weeks was not high, and the mortality of

the mother was

by no means high. Picard (in a Paris thesis, 1903)

has studied

childbirth in thirty-eight mothers below the age of

sixteen. He

found that, although the pelvis is certainly not yet

fully

developed in very young girls, the joints and bones

are much more

yielding than in the adult, so that parturition, far

from being

more difficult, is usually rapid and easy. The

process of labor

itself, is essentially normal in these cases, and,

even when

abnormalities occur (low insertion of the placenta

is a common

anomaly) it is remarkable that the patients do not

suffer from

them in the way common among older women. The

average weight of

the child was three kilogrammes, or about 6 pounds,

9 ounces; it

sometimes required special care during the first few

days after

birth, perhaps because labor in these cases is

sometimes slow.

The recovery of the mother was, in every case,

absolutely normal,

and the fact that these young mothers become

pregnant again more

readily than primiparæ of a more mature age, further

contributes

to show that childbirth below the age of sixteen is

in no way

injurious to the mother. Gache (_Annales de

Gynécologie et

d'Obstétrique_, Dec., 1904) has attended ninety-one

labors of

mothers under seventeen, in the Rawson Hospital,

Buenos Ayres;

they were of so-called Latin race, mostly Spanish or

Italian.

Gache found that these young mothers were by no

means more

exposed than others to abortion or to other

complications of

pregnancy. Except in four cases of slightly

contracted pelvis,

delivery was normal, though rather longer than in

older

primiparæ. Damage to the soft parts was, however,

rare, and, when

it occurred, in every case rapidly healed. The

average weight of

the child was 3,039 grammes, or nearly 6¾ pounds. It

may be noted

that most observers find that very early pregnancies

occur in

women who begin to menstruate at an unusually early

age, that is,

some years before the early pregnancy occurs.

It is clear, however, that young mothers do

remarkably well,

while there is no doubt whatever that they bear

unusually fine

infants. Kleinwächter, indeed, found that the

younger the mother,

the bigger the child. It is not only physically that

the children

of young mothers are superior. Marro has found

(_Pubertà_, p.

257) that the children of mothers under 21 are

superior to those

of older mothers both in conduct and intelligence,

provided the

fathers are not too old or too young. The detailed

records of

individual cases confirm these results, both as

regards mother

and child. Thus, Milner (_Lancet_, June 7, 1902)

records a case

of pregnancy in a girl of fourteen; the labor pains

were very

mild, and delivery was easy. E.B. Wales, of New

Jersey, has

recorded the history (reproduced in _Medical

Reprints_, Sept. 15,

1890) of a colored girl who became pregnant at the

age of eleven.

She was of medium size, rather tall and slender, but

well

developed, and began to menstruate at the age of

ten. She was in

good health and spirits during pregnancy, and able

to work.

Delivery was easy and natural, not notably

prolonged, and

apparently not unduly painful, for there were no

moans or

agitation. The child was a fine, healthy boy,

weighing not less

than eleven pounds. Mother and child both did well,

and there was

a great flow of milk. Whiteside Robertson (_British

Medical

Journal_, Jan. 18, 1902) has recorded a case of

pregnancy at the

age of thirteen, in a Colonial girl of British

origin in Cape

Colony, which is notable from other points of view.

During

pregnancy, she was anæmic, and appeared to be of

poor development

and doubtfully normal pelvic conformation. Yet

delivery took

place naturally, at full term, without difficulty or

injury, and

the lying-in period was in every way satisfactory.

The baby was

well-proportioned, and weighed 7½ pounds. "I have rarely seen a

primipara enjoy easier labor," concluded Robertson,

"and I have

never seen one look forward to the happy realization

of

motherhood with greater satisfaction."

The facts brought forward by obstetricians

concerning the good

results of early pregnancy, as regards both mother

and child,

have not yet received the attention they deserve.

They are,

however, confirmed by many general tendencies which

are now

fairly well recognized. The significant fact is

known, for

instance, that in mothers over thirty, the

proportion of

abortions and miscarriages is twice as great as in

mothers

between the ages of fifteen and twenty, who also are

superior in

this respect to mothers between the ages of twenty

and thirty

(_Statistischer Jahrbuch_, Budapest, 1905). It was,

again, proved

by Matthews Duncan, in his Goulstonian lecture, that

the chances

of sterility in a woman increase with increase of

age. It has,

further, been shown (Kisch, _Sexual Life of Woman_,

Part II) that

the older a woman at marriage, the greater the

average interval

before the first delivery, a tendency which seems to

indicate

that it is the very young woman who is in the

condition most apt

for procreation; Kisch is not, indeed, inclined to

think that

this applies to women below twenty, but the fact,

observed by

other obstetricians, that mothers under eighteen

tend to become

pregnant again at an unusually short interval, goes

far to

neutralize the exception made by Kisch. It may also

be pointed

out that, among children of very young mothers, the

sexes are

more nearly equal in number than is the case with

older mothers.

This would seem to indicate that we are here in

presence of a

normal equilibrium which will decrease as the age of

the mother

is progressively disturbed in an abnormal direction.

The facility of parturition at an early age, it may

be noted,

corresponds to an equal facility in physical sexual

intercourse,

a fact that is often overlooked. In Russia, where

marriage still

takes place early, it was formerly common when the

woman was only

twelve or thirteen, and Guttceit (_Dreissig Jahre

Praxis_, vol.

i, p. 324) says that he was assured by women who

married at this

age that the first coitus presented no especial

difficulties.

There is undoubtedly, at the present time, a

considerable amount

of prejudice against early motherhood. In part, this

is due to a

failure to realize that women are sexually much more

precocious

than men, physically as well as psychically (see

_ante_ p. 35).

The difference is about five years. This difference

has been

virtually recognized for thousands of years, in the

ancient

belief that the age of election for procreation is

about twenty,

or less, for women, but about twenty-five for men;

and it has

more lately been affirmed by the discovery that,

while the male

is never capable of generation before thirteen, the

female may,

in occasional instances, become pregnant at eight.

(Some of the

recorded examples are quoted by Kisch.) In part,

also, there is

an objection to the assumption of responsibilities

so serious as

those of motherhood by a young girl, and there is

the very

reasonable feeling that the obligations of a

permanent marriage

tie ought not to be undertaken at an early age. On

the other

hand, apart from the physical advantages, as regards

both mother

and infant, on the side of early pregnancies, it is

an advantage

for the child to have a young mother, who can devote

herself

sympathetically and unreservedly to its interests,

instead of

presenting the pathetic spectacle we so often

witness in the

middle-aged woman who turns to motherhood when her

youth and

mental flexibility are gone, and her habits and

tastes have

settled into other grooves; it has sometimes been a

great

blessing even to the very greatest men, like Goethe,

to have had

a youthful mother. It would also, in many cases, be

a great

advantage for the woman herself if she could bring

her

procreative life to an end well before the age of

twenty-five, so

that she could then, unhampered by child-bearing and

mature in

experience, be free to enter on such wider

activities in the

world as she might be fitted for.

Such an arrangement of the procreative life of women

would,

obviously, only be a variation, and would probably

be unsuited

for the majority. Every case must be judged on its

own merits.

The best age for procreation will probably continue

to be

regarded as being, for most women, around the age of

twenty. But

at a time like the present, when there is an

unfortunate

tendency for motherhood to be unduly delayed, it

becomes

necessary to insist on the advantages, in many

cases, of early

motherhood.

There are other conditions favorable or unfavorable to procreation which

it is now unnecessary to discuss in detail, since they have already been

incidentally dealt with in previous volumes of these

_Studies_. There is,

for instance, the question of the time of year and the time of the

menstrual cycle which may most properly be selected for procreation.[466]

The best period is probably that when sexual desire is strongest, which is

the period when conception would appear, as a matter of fact, most often

to occur. This would be in spring or early summer,[467]

and immediately

after (or shortly before) the menstrual period. The

Chinese have observed

that the last day of menstruation and the two following days--corresponding to the period of oestrus--constitute the most

favorable time for fecundation, and Bossi, of Genoa, has found that the

great majority of successes in both natural and

artificial fecundation

occur at this period.[468] Soranus, as well as the

Talmud, assigned the

period about menstruation as the best for impregnation, and Susruta, the

Indian physician, said that at this time pregnancy most readily occurs

because then the mouth of the womb is open, like the

flower of the

water-lily to the sunshine.

We have now at last reached the point from which we

started, the moment of

conception, and the child again lies in its mother's

womb. There remains

no more to be said. The divine cycle of life is

completed.

FOOTNOTES:

[421] Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central

Australia_, p. 330.

[422] Academy of Medicine of Paris, March 31, 1908.

[423] _The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_, vol. ii, p. 405.

[424] _Population and Progress_, p. 41.

[425] Cf. Reibmayr, _Entwicklungsgeschichte des Talentes und Genics_, Bd.

II, p. 31.

[426] "The debt that we owe to those who have gone before us," says

Haycraft (_Darwinism and Race Progress_, p. 160), "we can only repay to

those who come after us."

[427] Mardrus, _Les Mille Nuits_, vol. xvi, p. 158.

[428] Sidney Webb, _Popular Science Monthly_, 1906, p.

526 (previously

published in the _London Times_, Oct. 11, 16, 1906). In Ch. IX of the

present volume it has already been necessary to discuss the meaning of the

term, "morality."

[429] Thus, in Paris, in 1906, in the rich quarters, the birthrate per

1,000 inhabitants was 19.09; in well-to-do quarters,

22.51; and in poor

quarters, 29.70. Here we see that, while the birthrate falls and rises