One academic is proposing a cure for morning sickness that some moms-to-be might find in bad taste — sperm.
Gordon Gallup, a psychologist at SUNY-Albany has a theory that pregnant women who are continually exposed to the father’s semen are less like to suffer from AM nausea.
Gallup, who specializes in human reproductive competition and behavior, offers the theory that expectant women become ill and vomit because their bodies are rejecting the semen’s genetic material as something foreign and unfamiliar.
The theory could feasibly quell their queasiness by ingesting the same sperm in order to allow the body to build up a tolerance.
The idea, while likely appealing to dads, is only a theory and has yet to be tested.
The concept, presented at the 2012 Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, also proposed that morning sickness would actually ebb in subsequent pregnancies — if the second child was of the same paternity as the first.
In 2000, immunologists proposed that pregnant women who suffered from preeclampsia, a dangerous condition that can cause high blood pressure and early labor, suffered a lack of tolerance to the foreign properties of the fetus.
Dr. Alyssa Dweck, an ob-gyn based in Mount Kisco, NYand co-author of “V is for Vagina” called the concept of linking immunity with conditions associated with pregnancy “very interesting.”
After all, she said, there’s no medical rhyme or reason to morning sickness.
“The accepted literature links it to possible blood sugar or hormonse imbalances,” she said. “Acid buildup may also cause the feelings of nausea.”
However, due to the lack of conclusive findings on the topic, she said wouldn’t consider recommending oral sex as a morning-sickness cure to her patients.
Gallup has long been making headlines as a proponent of the healing nature of sperm.
In 2002, he made waves when he concluded that exposure to semen offered anti-depressant qualities.
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