Caught on camera: egg emerging from ovary

This story comes from RedSpiral (not from her blog but from a doula listserv we are both members of).

During the hysterectomy of a 45 year old woman, gynecologists in Belgium happened to catch the beauty of her egg emerging from a ripe follicle on her ovary. This is something that has never been captured on camera before. Most theories on how an egg is released suggested something akin to an explosion, but this egg took 15 minutes to slowly, naturally make its way into the world. Kind of like a birth, wouldn’t you say? The egg’s “birth” is slow and gentle, needing no intervention for a safe journey.

What would have happened if we would have had the ability to see this process long ago?  Would we have set parameters on what the normal length of egg release is?  Would we have augmented it, even if when it was working well?  And I wonder  (warning: fairly hippy-dippy comment) – does the egg keep this “memory” and use it during birth once it has become an infant, emerging from the womb?

Enjoy the pictures – I think they are gorgeous. And here’s the complete story from BBC News.

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