An Ode to Our Miraculous Bodies
One of the most fascinating thing about women’s bodies, I think, is the fact that we’re born with all the egg cells that we will ever have. It’s estimated that the number is somewhere around one million to two million. Just imagine a tiny baby arriving on this earth with the starter seeds for 1 million more babies within her!
But this remarkable fact is just the beginning when you think about it. Whether you are a man or a woman, a part of you was already present when your mother was born. Which also means that you actually had a brief stay inside your maternal grandmother’s womb, à la Russian nesting dolls. Your grandmother’s body helped to build the egg cell that eventually became you. This cell was present throughout your mom’s childhood. It was there when she met your father. If you have older siblings, it was even present at their births. Your younger siblings, in turn, witnessed your birth. Our familial bonds goes back so much further in that context.
The Odds of You Being You
Now let’s move up a step and consider your conception. Your particular egg cell was already one in a million. The sperm that eventually became you? It was just one out of far more than 50 million in most cases. Fertilization had to happen at the right time of the month, and then it had to implant successfully. When you also consider that you managed to grow exponentially over just 9 months in the womb, your presence here on this earth is simply a miracle. As someone who has experienced a miscarriage, I can attest to this.
After all this, how can we be embarrassed by our bodies that came into being after so many things had to line up just so? How can we not be in awe of each beating heart in existence? How can we take for granted the family we were born into? When you’re tempted to view yourself with a critical eye next time you are in front of a mirror, I hope you’ll remember your miraculous beginning.