Fertility issues

[Nancy Drew]

Well said, Piglet!  That implant thing really has me baffled!!  I can't imagine what kind of implant could possibly start an immunity breakdown!  It has to be real because we saw what Claire was going through, unlike the time they supposedly put a thing on Sawyers heart that would make it explode.  Even knowing that Claire was suffering, I still can't get it out of my thoughts that they tried to control Sawyer with the lie of his supposed implant and that what Claire went through had nothing to do with the fertility issue.  Maybe it was something else and they staged it to look that way so that Juliet could save the day.

[uofapiglet]

Thanks!

I'm thoroughly convinced that Juliet is there one, to infiltrate the Losties camp, and two, to oversee the health of the mothers/mothers-to-be. Whether or not she's there for revenge, alligning with Ben's plan, or whatever, I have no clue. But there's something to be said about her ability to take care of the females on the island and their pre-natal development...

[spoiler] Apparently, Sun reluctantly allows her to examine her belly or something in an upcoming episode. [/spoiler]

[rhythm]

Hi everyone...new here.

Here's my thoughts on the fertility issue:

The "Others" were taking Claire's blood to probably try to study it and compare it to the other pregnant womens' samples to check for any anomalies.  Claire probably really was their "control" specimen.  

And an idea came to mind...what if those women were the original inhabitants of the island and they are now becoming extinct and that is why they are unable to conceive...

So then Claire arrives and they have something/one to compare themeselves to...to check for differences.

Maybe, when Ethan kidnapped her, they were not giving her injections to "protect"  her but they were actually administering the implant.  Maybe the implant <trigger if you will> is chemical in nature ...

Sun, Claire & Rousseau {if my theory is true or if Juliette is correct about "it" happening at conception} would be immune to whatever is wrong because they were not inhabitants of the island and they did not become impregnated on the island.  

AND maybe, just maybe the reason why they took Alex and the other children is because they aren't natives of the island and the others hope that maybe in time they can "breed" with them to keep themselves from dying out.

[JBRam]

Thanks!

I'm thoroughly convinced that Juliet is there one, to infiltrate the Losties camp, and two, to oversee the health of the mothers/mothers-to-be. Whether or not she's there for revenge, alligning with Ben's plan, or whatever, I have no clue. But there's something to be said about her ability to take care of the females on the island and their pre-natal development...

[spoiler] Apparently, Sun reluctantly allows her to examine her belly or something in an upcoming episode. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Response to Your Spoiler]Maybe that's why Juliet is there: to make sure Sun stays ok[/spoiler]

[Nancy Drew]

I doubt Juliet has any good intentions that aren't self-centered.  She wants to see the women survive, but only so she can go home.  Plus, you can't tell me with something this big that she wouldn't want the credibility from it.

[nikarro]

Here is something that struck me, I am going back to re-watch all of the episodes with ethan and claire, maybe they implanted something in her too, but what if he HAD kidnapped her only to save her?  What if that was his goal all along to save her and when the Losties figured him out he got angry and took her.  Maybe they were only going to try to take the baby for fear that she and the baby would die.  Maybe Alex is in on this deeper, maybe she was used to get Claire out once they realized she would be all right but they wanted the Losties to keep their fear of the Others.

[chadley]

So Are Ben, Alex, and Aaron the only people that were born on the island?  Looks like you have to name your child something that starts at the beginning of the alphabet for them to survive.

[matahari]

So Are Ben, Alex, and Aaron the only people that were born on the island?  Looks like you have to name your child something that starts at the beginning of the alphabet for them to survive.

Dont forget Carl!!

[uofapiglet]

Welcome Rhythm! Great post so far and I hope you continue to join in on the Sledgeweb forum fun...

I doubt Juliet has any good intentions that aren't self-centered.  She wants to see the women survive, but only so she can go home.  Plus, you can't tell me with something this big that she wouldn't want the credibility from it.

I feel exactly the same way about Juliet ND... sometimes I think she wants to do it just to say to herself that she wasn't a failure with regards to her research/work on the island even though she keeps pretending to want off the island - it's why she's been there so long. I dunno, she's a shady character, too complex for me to figure out, but I'm sure she'll come in handy when the time comes to explain the baby crisis to Sun.

[Optimus J]

(1) LOST will be over before Sun gives birth, so I assume that she will either be dead or back in Korea by that time.

Really? because In the next season she will start to show the pregnancy, as she is probably past the 10th week now. she could even have the baby 4~6 weeks before the end of term. So They CAN do it, considering  LOST will last till 2009, maybe 2010.

[Optimus J]

Hi everyone...new here.

Here's my thoughts on the fertility issue:

The "Others" were taking Claire's blood to probably try to study it and compare it to the other pregnant womens' samples to check for any anomalies.  Claire probably really was their "control" specimen. 

And an idea came to mind...what if those women were the original inhabitants of the island and they are now becoming extinct and that is why they are unable to conceive...

So then Claire arrives and they have something/one to compare themeselves to...to check for differences.

Maybe, when Ethan kidnapped her, they were not giving her injections to "protect"  her but they were actually administering the implant.  Maybe the implant <trigger if you will> is chemical in nature ...

Sun, Claire & Rousseau {if my theory is true or if Juliette is correct about "it" happening at conception} would be immune to whatever is wrong because they were not inhabitants of the island and they did not become impregnated on the island. 

AND maybe, just maybe the reason why they took Alex and the other children is because they aren't natives of the island and the others hope that maybe in time they can "breed" with them to keep themselves from dying out.

The problem with the pregnancy is that the placenta triggers the immunological system of the mother, as it's made of half the tissues (and genectics) of mother and half of the child (which have foreign DNA) . At normal conditions this triggers a failsfe on the B-Cells of the mother on the womb. But in the island That doesn't work anymore and the mothers die.

That said, the history Jules told about Claire and the need of medication doesn't make sense. That serum wasn't necessary in the staff, and the operation probably was not only to give birth to Aaron, but to vivisect Claire as well to make a biopsy on her womb.
Hence Alex told she saved Claire's live. Alex might even "hate" Ben because she thinks her mother died because of him, and his decision to take the term to the end, even with the risk.
I really hate the others.

[JBRam]

(1) LOST will be over before Sun gives birth, so I assume that she will either be dead or back in Korea by that time.

Really? because In the next season she will start to show the pregnancy, as she is probably past the 10th week now. she could even have the baby 4~6 weeks before the end of term. So They CAN do it, considering  LOST will last till 2009, maybe 2010.

We've been travelling at approximately one month per season... that means it would take nine months or nine season for Sun's baby to be born.

I hope that doesn't happen.

[Snowy Joe]

(1)  What's Sun's fate, seeing as she is pregnant?  And don't the Others know she's pregnant?  They seem to know everything else.

(2)  I didn't quite follow the thing with Claire.  Did she really need the Others' intervention to carry her pregnancy to term?  Or was that some sort of ruse.

(3)  Wasn't Rousseau pregnant when she landed on the island with her exploration party???

congratulations... you win the 'stating the bleeding obvious' award!! 
[/joke]  ...that means... dont take it to heart...

[DirtyMaggieMae]

Ok.  So.  Why is it that the island allows men to have a higher sperm count, allows for conception, but won't allow babies to carry to term?  It seem kinda contradictory to have these issues.  If the island didn't want children why increase sperm count five fold?  And if the problem happens at conception like Juliet said, these women couldn't even leave the island in hopes of a regular birth.  Which leads me to believe that there are two forces here, not just one.  The first force (maybe the island) wants to promote life and so allows the blessing of an increased sperm count.  The second (possibly side effect from Others/ Dharma technology) damages the cells of either the baby or the mother and impairs the ability to carry to term.  Hm.  Feel free to change what is in the parenthesis, even reverse them.

I guess my point is there must be two things going on here.  Why the wasted effort for the sperm count if the POINT of it is to conceive which is not even possible.  Unless, does anyone know anything about the effects of a high sperm count?  Does it raise testosterone or something?  Promote some primal alpha wolf thing?  Other possibly positive things besides makin babies?

Seeing as there are baby boar, there must be birth elsewhere, just not in humans.

Or did Dharma, trying to create an ideal environment, decide to sterilize the population until that ideal was achieved?  Could they have been wiped out before the "sterilize switch" had been disabled?  Thoughts? 

[LostAndSeek]

Ok.  So.  Why is it that the island allows men to have a higher sperm count, allows for conception, but won't allow babies to carry to term?  It seem kinda contradictory to have these issues.  If the island didn't want children why increase sperm count five fold?  And if the problem happens at conception like Juliet said, these women couldn't even leave the island in hopes of a regular birth.  Which leads me to believe that there are two forces here, not just one.  The first force (maybe the island) wants to promote life and so allows the blessing of an increased sperm count.  The second (possibly side effect from Others/ Dharma technology) damages the cells of either the baby or the mother and impairs the ability to carry to term.  Hm.  Feel free to change what is in the parenthesis, even reverse them.

I guess my point is there must be two things going on here.  Why the wasted effort for the sperm count if the POINT of it is to conceive which is not even possible.  Unless, does anyone know anything about the effects of a high sperm count?  Does it raise testosterone or something?  Promote some primal alpha wolf thing?  Other possibly positive things besides makin babies?

Seeing as there are baby boar, there must be birth elsewhere, just not in humans.

Or did Dharma, trying to create an ideal environment, decide to sterilize the population until that ideal was achieved?  Could they have been wiped out before the "sterilize switch" had been disabled?  Thoughts? 

Interesting issues, Maggie. I'm guessing that whatever mechanism cures cancer also has the unexpected side effect of causing the pregnancy deaths. Could be that mechanism attacks rapid cell reproduction and can't distinguish cancer from a baby. Make that human cell reproduction as you're right that animals don't seem to be affected.

Just a guess....