important role; others, like
Forel, believe it plays none. That the orgasm is not _necessary_ for
impregnation admits of no discussion. Women who suffer from frigidity
in an extreme degree, women who never experienced an orgasm, women who
repress their orgasm, women in sleep or under narcosis, women who have
been raped, women who loathe their husbands, become pregnant
frequently and readily. But does it play any role at all? Does it
facilitate impregnation? Other things being equal, will intercourse
accompanied by an orgasm be more likely to prove fruitful than one in
which the orgasm was entirely absent? This question I am forced to
answer in the affirmative. Because from the various investigations I
have made it can hardly be subject to doubt that the uterus during an
orgasm exerts a certain amount of suction; and that impregnation is
_more likely_ to follow when the spermatozoa are sucked up into the
uterus than when left to make their own way by their own power of
motion, stands to reason and goes without saying. In the former
instance it takes less time for the spermatozoa to reach the ovum, and
there is less chance for them to perish on the way--from malnutrition
or from coming in contact with secretions of an acid reaction. There
is another point. I do not bring it forth as a proved fact or as a
fact susceptible to proof. It is a mere hypothesis, but in my opinion
it is a correct and plausible hypothesis. I believe that the strong
spasmodic contractions that take place during the orgasm have an
influence not only in accelerating the bursting of a Graafian follicle
and the extrusion of an ovum, but they are instrumental in aiding the
Fallopian tube to grasp the ovum and helping it along on the road
towards the uterus. It is therefore not at all inconceivable that
conception may take place during or within a very short time after an
act which is accompanied by a proper orgasm. Many women claim to
experience peculiar unmistakable sensations as soon as conception has
taken place, and by calculating the day of probable delivery we know
that they are right. Taking therefore all the various data into
consideration we are fully justified in saying that while an orgasm or
a voluptuous sensation during the act is not at all _necessary_ to
impregnation, it is in many cases a helpful factor.

It is claimed by some that the offspring resulting from an orgastic
act is apt to be healthier and better developed than offspring
re