A woman has a physical womb, is impregnated by a physical act, and gives birth to a child of matter. But it has been forgotten than a man has a spiritual womb, is impregnated by a spiritual act, and may give birth to a spiritual child.

In our time and culture this is extremely uncommon in part because we have no stories that might alert us to this possibility. The result is a peculiar form of man, and an astonishing kind of child. I suspect this is also possible for women, but it’s beyond my direct experience.

The experience of such a pregnancy is fraught with wonder and grave peril, particularly in our culture, where none of it is acknowledged or understood. One who understands this has experienced it and become such a ‘male mother’, or was at least directly involved in the process (not all pregnancies result in birth); others who might make noises about it really have no idea what they are talking about.