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Doctors, scientists continue to differ on when life begins

Health & Science

By Susan Anyangu

The debate on when life begins pits pundits against each other and elicit emotional reactions.

For those who are pro-life, it begins at fertilisation while the pro-choice campus emphasise on when a foetus becomes a human being.

Dr Weston Khisa, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Family Health Clinic, says life begins immediately after fertilisation. "It is clear that life begins immediately after fertilisation and the heartbeat is detectable after four weeks from the date of conception," he says. He says that immediately after fertilisation the body organs begin to form.

At conception, he says, a couple’s sex cells unite. The chromosomes from the paternal sperm and maternal egg fuse at fertilisation to create a single cell embryo or zygote. The process takes about 24 hours.

The pre-embryonic period extends from the moment of fertilisation of the ovum to the fourth week after conception. During this phase the zygote undergoes continual cell division, implants in the uterus, and forms the primary germ layers, which give rise to the organs of the human body," he explains.

But others say body tissues are formed much later. Dr Charles Ochieng’ a gynaecologist at Marie Stopes, Kisumu, says before 24 weeks the zygote only comprises of blood and mucus referred to as morula.

"Life begins 24 weeks after conception when the tissues are formed. Before that it is simply just blood with no tissues commonly referred to in scientific terms as morula," he says.

But Khisa is adamant that immediately after fertilisation construction of body organs start. "Test can detect a pregnancy within three days of conception. Within three months the placenta is formed and this is what acts as a link between baby and mother. The placenta provides blood, oxygen and food, it is the interface between the two," he says.

Khisa says that with advanced technology, once the unborn baby weighs half a kilogram it can survive outside the womb.

In 2006, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Committee on Ethics published an opinion on using pre-implantation embryos for research. The opinion states: "If the pre-implantation embryo is left or maintained outside the uterus, it cannot develop into a human being".

Thus, some experts argue the question for doctors is not when life begins but rather when does that life become a human being?

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