Immaculate Conception: Close to 1 Percent of U.S. Pregnancies are due to 'Virgin Birth'

Science may suggest that it takes a sperm and an egg to produce offspring. Of course, this can occur from sexual intercourse or artificial insemination. However, could it be possible that some women could become pregnant without either?

A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that approximately one percent of young women in the United States claim that they became pregnant while still a virgin.

Researchers analyzed data obtained from nearly 7,870 women enrolled in the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). All participants in the confidential research were interviewed several times during the 14-year-old study period.

Of the 7,870 women involved in the study, researchers found that 0.5 (45) percent consistently reported that they became pregnant while still virgins--none of whom had undergone in-vitro fertilization.

"Our first thought was that we had a programming error," Amy Herring, a professor of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and one of the study researchers said, via Live Science. "We didn't ask the participants, specifically, if they gave birth as a virgin. Instead, they answered a series of questions on pregnancy history and a separate series of questions on vaginal intercourse. Based on these two sets of questions, we derived the virginity status at the time of pregnancy."

Scientists found that many women who claimed they were virgins when pregnant did have sex but believed in an 'immaculate conception' due to the possibility of a signed chastity pledge or less communication with parents about sex and reproduction.

Unfortunately, science and religion often interact with each other but also conflict.

Some animals are able to create asexually. For instance, sharks can produce asexually, which may classified as what we call a 'virgin birth.' However, such instances have never been scientifically documented in human birth.

Many religious readings discuss virgin births, but hold no scientific support or documentation of factual evidence has been recorded at this time.

"This type of reporting wasn't limited to women in the study. In fact, there were a few virgin fathers lurking around in the data as well," Herring said. "That's a little harder to wrap my head around."  

Does religion ever cloud your understanding of science? Share in the comments below.

More information regarding the study can be found via the Christmas edition of BMJ.