Fetal erection?

I have a crazy question that I haven't found an answer to elsewhere on
the web. (Maybe it's in this group's archives and I just haven't found
it.)

Yesterday I went in for amniocentesis, during which an ultrasound was
done and my approximate due date was calculated. (Looks like the fetus
is about 17 1/2 weeks along.) The doctor working on me also went ahead
and tried to make a guess as to the baby's sex.

I noticed that once the doctor zoomed in on the relevant piece of
anatomy, he seemed to be struggling to maintain his professional
demeanor and not snicker. When I peered at the ultrasound display, it
looked as though the baby had an erection. Not knowing as much about
penises as my husband who was also there, I later asked for his
opinion, and he agreed with me. (Also trying hard not to snicker.)

My first reaction was "Kid, what ARE you doing in there?"

My second reaction is to wonder whether that's even possible. Do
little boys get erections when they're small, fairly undeveloped
fetuses? I suppose there are a variety of things that can bring one
on, so it doesn't necessarily have a sexual connotation or require
that all the male hormones be fired up.

Your experiences, please.

It isn't common for boys to get erections until they are _much_ older due to
sexual reasons, but there are lots of other reasons for an erection. Many
men get one upon waking first thing in the morning, and I've been told
there's nothing sexual about it.
Babies do play with their 'bits' in-utero though, just like later on when
they play with them in the bath :-)

"Tanya" wrote in message
om...
I have a crazy question that I haven't found an answer to elsewhere on
the web. (Maybe it's in this group's archives and I just haven't found
it.)

Yesterday I went in for amniocentesis, during which an ultrasound was
done and my approximate due date was calculated. (Looks like the fetus
is about 17 1/2 weeks along.) The doctor working on me also went ahead
and tried to make a guess as to the baby's sex.

I noticed that once the doctor zoomed in on the relevant piece of
anatomy, he seemed to be struggling to maintain his professional
demeanor and not snicker. When I peered at the ultrasound display, it
looked as though the baby had an erection. Not knowing as much about
penises as my husband who was also there, I later asked for his
opinion, and he agreed with me. (Also trying hard not to snicker.)

My first reaction was "Kid, what ARE you doing in there?"

My second reaction is to wonder whether that's even possible. Do
little boys get erections when they're small, fairly undeveloped
fetuses? I suppose there are a variety of things that can bring one
on, so it doesn't necessarily have a sexual connotation or require
that all the male hormones be fired up.

Your experiences, please.

It isn't common for boys to get erections until they are _much_ older due to
sexual reasons, but there are lots of other reasons for an erection. Many
men get one upon waking first thing in the morning, and I've been told
there's nothing sexual about it.
Babies do play with their 'bits' in-utero though, just like later on when
they play with them in the bath :-)

Thanks for the response, Amy.

I suppose it isn't surprising that a kid of mine couldn't even wait
until he was out of the womb before starting to get into mischief. The
next ultrasound will probably show him picking his nose.

"Tanya" wrote in message
om...
Thanks for the response, Amy.

I suppose it isn't surprising that a kid of mine couldn't even wait
until he was out of the womb before starting to get into mischief. The
next ultrasound will probably show him picking his nose.

No, things like this you blame on DH. The kid only has half your genes,
remember? The good half... ;-)

ROBERT T. FRANCOEUR and J. Kenneth Davidson, Sr. write:

"In 1985, Mary Calderone, M.D., a pioneer of American sexology and
co-founder of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United
States, documented the presence of a functioning erectile reflex in a
seventeen-week-old male fetus..."
http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/sexology.../IES/USA07.HTM

Same authors...

"Generally, American adults are very uncomfortable with masturbation by
infants and children. There are exceptions, of course, as for instance, the
practice of indigenous Hawaiian adult caregivers masturbating or fellating
infants to calm them at night."


"Tanya" wrote in message
om...
I have a crazy question that I haven't found an answer to elsewhere on
the web. (Maybe it's in this group's archives and I just haven't found
it.)

Yesterday I went in for amniocentesis, during which an ultrasound was
done and my approximate due date was calculated. (Looks like the fetus
is about 17 1/2 weeks along.) The doctor working on me also went ahead
and tried to make a guess as to the baby's sex.

I noticed that once the doctor zoomed in on the relevant piece of
anatomy, he seemed to be struggling to maintain his professional
demeanor and not snicker. When I peered at the ultrasound display, it
looked as though the baby had an erection. Not knowing as much about
penises as my husband who was also there, I later asked for his
opinion, and he agreed with me. (Also trying hard not to snicker.)

My first reaction was "Kid, what ARE you doing in there?"

My second reaction is to wonder whether that's even possible. Do
little boys get erections when they're small, fairly undeveloped
fetuses? I suppose there are a variety of things that can bring one
on, so it doesn't necessarily have a sexual connotation or require
that all the male hormones be fired up.

Your experiences, please.