VELAMMAL BODHI CAMPUS ,COIMBATORE

CLASS: XII TOPIC: Reproductive health SUB: BIOLOGY

BOOK BACK QUESTIONS

1. What do you think is the significance of reproductive health in a society?

Ans:
Reproductive health can be termed as the total well- being in possibly all the
aspects of reproduction including emotional, physical, behavioral and the
social well-being. Some diseases can be transferred from one individual to
another through sexual contact, for example gonorrhea, AIDS etc. They are
referred to as sexually transmitted diseases. Sexual contact can also lead to
unwanted pregnancies and further complications in case sexually
transmitted diseases are contracted. Therefore, it is important to create an
awareness amongst people, the youth in particular, in the context of
different topics related to reproduction. The youth is the future of the
country. They are most susceptible to acquire sexually transmitted diseases.
Hence, some preventive measures that can be adapted are – creating
awareness about different birth control methods available, sexually
transmitted diseases & their preventive measures, importance of gender
equality. These steps will greatly impact in bringing up a socially conscious
healthy family. Also, creating awareness about the uncontrolled population
growth and social evils that still exist in the society will promote the concept
of bringing up a reproductively healthy society.
2. Suggest the aspects of reproductive health which need to be given special
attention in the present scenario.
Ans:
Reproductive health can be termed as the total well- being in possibly all the
aspects of reproduction including emotional, physical, behavioral and the
social well-being. The different aspects that require special attention are as
follows:

 Awareness needs to be created in the reproductive and child

healthcare
 Creating awareness amongst people by counselling about reproductive
organs, adolescence, hygienic and safe sexual practices, different
sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS etc.
 Sex education needs to be introduced in schools. This helps in
eradicating misconception and myths in the context of sex-related
topics.
 People should be educated about the different birth control options
that are available, care of pregnant mothers, post-natal care of the
mother and the newborn, significance of breast-feeding
 Professional expertise, strong infrastructural facilities, material
support to provide medical assistance and care for the patients facing
reproductive issues, issues because of uncontrolled population
 growth, awareness about family planning, social evils such as sex
abuse and sex-related crime.
3. Is sex education necessary in schools? Why?
Ans:
Yes, sex education is necessary in schools. It is because of the following
reasons:

 To impart apt and necessary information to students in order to save

them from misconceptions and myths about sex-related topics
 Provides appropriate knowledge about adolescence, reproductive
organs and related concepts
 Creates awareness amongst students about the need for hygienic and
safe sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases. This helps
students, specifically those in adolescence to lead a healthy,
reproductive life
4. Do you think that reproductive health in our country has improved in the
past 50 years? If yes, mention some such areas of improvement.
Ans:
Yes, there has certainly been enormous improvement in reproductive health
in the past 50 years. Listed below are the areas of improvement:

 The decrease in the infant mortality rate can be attributed to the

Massive child immunization programme
 Drastic decrease due to better post-natal care can be attributed to
Maternal and infant mortality rate
 The awareness created through the Family planning programmes has
seen people opting for smaller families
 Decrease in the rate of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted
pregnancies due to use of contraceptives
5. What are the suggested reasons for population explosion?
Ans:
Population explosion can be used to refer to the sudden, large increase in
the size of a population. There is an increase in the population every day,
leading to population explosion. Two of the major reasons are as follows:

 Increase in the birth rate and the longevity

 Decrease in the death rate
In the last 50 years, the death rate has decreased evidently. Decrease in the
death rate and increase in the birth rate can be attributed to the various
measures that have been adapted such as diseases-control, measures taken
to create awareness and spreading knowledge of importance of reproductive
health, measures taken to introduce sex-education topics at school level,
better medical facilities, ensuring food supply and medical assistance during
emergency times and so on. These reasons have also led to an increase in
the longevity of people.
6. Is the use of contraceptives justified? Give reasons.
Ans:
Yes, the use of contraceptives is completely justified.
Human population is increasing exponentially. In order to regulate this
population growth, keeping a check on the process of reproduction has
become the need of the hour. For this, different contraceptive devices have
been circulated for use so as to reduce unwanted pregnancies which has
helped to lessen the recorded count of birth rate thereby regulating the
process of population explosion.
7. Removal of gonads cannot be considered as a contraceptive option. Why?
Ans:
Contraceptives are used in order to prevent unforeseen, unwanted
pregnancies, to prevent spreading of sexually transmitted diseases. Some
other alternatives to prevent unwanted pregnancies are oral, barrier, natural
and surgical methods. But, a complete removal of gonads cannot be
contraceptive option as it will lead to infertility and make several hormones
unavailable which are crucial for the normal functioning of accessory
reproductive parts. Contraception is used to prevent any chance of
fertilization and not make a person infertile for life as removal of gonads
would do.
8. Amniocentesis for sex determination is banned in our country. Is this ban
necessary? Comment.
Ans:
Amniocentesis is a pre-natal diagnostic technique which is used to
determine the sex and the metabolic ailments of the developing foetus in the
uterus of the mother which is carried out by observing chromosomal
patterns. The method was deployed to determine the presence of any genetic
disorder in the foetus. But unfortunately, this procedure has been misused
for gender detection before the birth of the child hence leading to female
foeticide. Hence, to prevent this practice, ban on the usage of amniocentesis
for sex determination is necessary.
9. Suggest some methods to assist infertile couples to have children.
Ans:
The inability of a couple to produce a baby inspite of unprotected sexual
intercourse is termed as infertility which can arise due to congenital
diseases, physical, psychological and immunological factors. The diagnostic
and corrective measures of few of these disorders can be carried out in
specialized health care units, infertility clinics. Assisted reproductive
technologies (ART) are the special techniques that can assist infertile
couples to bear children.
Listed below are some methods assisting infertile couples to have children

 In vitro fertilization – Embryo transfer(IVF – ET)

In this method, the donor’s egg is removed and fertilized in vitro by
 the sperm of the donor under a sterile environment in a culture
medium. This fertilized embryo is then transferred to the body of the
donor for the complete development. Deployment of this method has
induced a success rate of less than 20%. IVF – ET is of two types: IUT
& ZIFT
 IUT (intra uterine transfer)
The fertilized egg arrives at the 8-celled stage (blastomere). It is
then transferred to the fallopian tube for further stages of
development.
 ZIFT(zygote intra fallopian transfer)In this method, the fertilized
egg arrives at the 32 celled stage (advanced stages to the 8
blastomere stage) and is then transferred to the uterus for
further stages.

 In vitro fertilization – surrogacy

In this method, embryo is formed in a fertile female which is then
transferred to the body of an infertile female who is not able to conceive. The
success rate of this procedure is nearly 65%

 Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT)

In this method, the unfertilized oocytes and the sperm are collected and
transferred to the fallopian tube of another female who is unable to produce
eggs but is able to offer a suitable ambience for fertilization and
development. The success rate of this procedure is around 30%.

 Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

Carried out in laboratory. Direct injection of sperms in to the ovum for the
formation of an embryo. The success rate of this procedure is nearly 60-
70%.

 Artificial insemination (AI)

In this method, semen that is collected either from a healthy donor or
husband is introduced either into the uterus of the female of her vagina. The
success rate of this procedure is about 20-40%.
10. What are the measures one has to take to prevent from contracting
STDs?
Ans:
Listed below are the measures to be taken to avoid contraction of STDs

 Blood transfusion from an infected person or drug abuser must be

avoided
 Sharing surgical instruments and injection needles must be totally
avoided
 Having sexual intercourse with an unknown or multiple partners
must be avoided
 Always use precautions(condoms) during intercourse
  In case of any doubt, early detection and cure must be taken through
medical assistance from a qualified doctor
11. State True/False with explanation
(a) Abortions could happen spontaneously too. (True/False)
(b) Infertility is defined as the inability to produce a viable offspring and is
always due to abnormalities/defects in the female partner. (True/False)
(c) Complete lactation could help as a natural method of contraception.
(True/False)
(d) Creating awareness about sex related aspects is an effective method to
improve reproductive health of the people. (True/False)
Ans:

a. True
b. False
Infertility is defined as the inability to produce a viable offspring and
can be due to abnormalities in either the male or the female partner.
c. False
Lactational amenorrhea or complete lactation can help as a natural
method of contraception. But it is limited until the completion of the
lactational period only which is until six months after parturition.
d. True

12. Correct the following statements:

(a) Surgical methods of contraception prevent gamete formation.
(b) All sexually transmitted diseases are completely curable.
(c) Oral pills are very popular contraceptives among rural women.
(d) In E. T. techniques, embryos are always transferred into the uterus.
Ans:

1. Surgical methods of contraception prevent gamete flow during the act

of intercourse
2. Some STDs can be cured if detected early and treated appropriately.
But AIDS still remains to be incurable.
3. Oral pills are very popular contraceptives among urban women
4. In embryo transfer (E.T.) techniques, the 8-celled embryos are
transferred into the fallopian tube. Whereas more than 8-celled
embryos are directly transferred to the uterus.