There is never a complete certainty with conceptions. With animals, they seem to instinctively know when the mating is successful, but humans and Animalians require more information to be certain. It often came down to a matter of sheer luck, though the chances can certainly be improved. With Project Lesbos, there was a greater level of uncertainty. By standard logic, the whiptails who were paired with males should have been the first to conceive. However, it appeared that the female-female pairings were capable of conceiving on their own and Sappho and Susan were among the first to receive the news.
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"Are you really sure?" asked Sappho, her tail almost wagging with excitement.
"We checked our blood and there's a definite rise in hormones in line with what women experience once they've been impregnated," said Judy.
Susan felt her flat stomach. She was really going to be a mother. She couldn't believe it. "So we'll both be laying eggs in three months?" she asked.
"That is what should happen," said Judy, "However, there are a few things we need to go over regarding your daughters."
"Will there be a problem?" asked Sappho with worry.
"There shouldn't be," said Judy, "However, you must realize parthenogenesis means that there was no DNA exchange between you two."
"So we'll be hatching our own clones?" asked Susan.
"Not quite," said Judy, "You see, with asexual reproduction, there's a process of cell division called meiosis. It's a bit complicated to get into, but essentially, it means your daughters will be getting 50% of your chromosomes. It's how asexually reproducing organisms add genetic diversity and allow for natural selection."
"So they technically wouldn't be sisters," said Sappho.
"From a strictly biological standpoint, no," said Judy, "But there's more to family relations than blood ties."
"Just one other thing," said Susan, "Does that mean me, Sappho, and the other whiptails will each be laying an egg every year, with or without male fertilization?"
"That could be possible, but it might not happen," said Judy, "It has been observed that New Mexico whiptails will 'mock-mate' with each other, which might stimulate them into beginning their asexual reproduction. But that isn't proven yet. It is quite likely that a whiptail Animalian also requires stimulation in order to be begin producing an egg. The only way we can be sure is if one whiptail doesn't engage with anyone and still lays an egg."
After they left Horizon Labs, Sappho asked, "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, now that we know that whiptails can reproduce with or without males, I think we can open up conversions for more people who want to join us. I don't know if we're going to get as big as the BARA Houses, certainly less variety of species. But somehow, I don't think we're going to grow in a world-threatening army like some idiots think we might be," said Susan.
"Oh, ok, but I was actually going to ask what are we going to do right now? Just the two of us?" asked Sappho.
"Well...we're technically mothers now, so we can get in on all those Mother's Day specials," said Susan.
"Can we go do that Mother Day's Photoshoot?" asked Sappho eagerly.
"Oh, I think that would be a lot of fun," agreed Susan.