Are virgin births possible in nature? In guppies, yes, because the female may be a hermaphrodite and, by producing sperm as well as ova, fertilize herself. In rabbits, fatherless reproduction has been observed after the doe's ovaries are chilled. But in humans? Maybe, says the Lancet of London, and last week doctors went to work to see whether there are living proofs in England today.
Britain's interest in a topic long pigeonholed by science was spurred by a report that Eugenist Helen Spurway gave at University College in London. Among humans, she declared, virgin birth could not happen in the case of...