Callie Hornbuckle
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
As a new fan of yours, I thank you for your wonderful novels! As a new mother, I greatly appreciated your treatment of childbirth in Barrayar - it was refreshingly realistic for the genre, even down to the infant breastfeeding shortly after delivery. This detail lead to some curiosity about uterine replicators, however. Do those who make use of the replicators ever breastfeed? Lactation-inducing drugs, perhaps?
Lois McMaster Bujold
I expect lactation in the Vorkosiverse is a matter of choice; the hormones etc. could certainly be made to sit up and behave if personal lactation was wanted (by any gender, actually), with the tech shown. As yet another alternative, vat-created human breast milk would also be feasible. Different places and times would pursue different fads. In all, more choices, more conscious decisions for the poor beleaguered parent.
(I have had occasion to reflect that the female mammalian body is actually a device for filtering nutrition from the environment through to the next generation, both pre- and postpartum. Evolution, so strange...)
Ta, L.
I expect lactation in the Vorkosiverse is a matter of choice; the hormones etc. could certainly be made to sit up and behave if personal lactation was wanted (by any gender, actually), with the tech shown. As yet another alternative, vat-created human breast milk would also be feasible. Different places and times would pursue different fads. In all, more choices, more conscious decisions for the poor beleaguered parent.
(I have had occasion to reflect that the female mammalian body is actually a device for filtering nutrition from the environment through to the next generation, both pre- and postpartum. Evolution, so strange...)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Ann Perrone
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Like many readers, I have my genre preferences. As an entrenched Vorkosigan fan, I've not found as much attraction to fantasy. Year after year I see questions to you in the vein of "are you going to write more Vorkosigan books?" to which your boilerplate response is "Nothing is planned at this time." So, on behalf of my brothers and sisters of the Vorkosigan Community, can you PLEASE consider writing more? Please?
Steve
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Have you seen the film "Russian Ark"? It's a 90 minute long film that was shot in a single take. The camera wanders the halls of the Hermitage while encountering the ghosts of Catherine II and the Romanov girls. It finishes up with a re-creation of the last Russian state ball before the declaration of WWI. That major scene included thousands of extras. It made a great stand-in for Barrayar. Happy natal day!
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Apr 16, 2016 08:58AM · flag
Apr 16, 2016 09:40AM · flag