Development of a Baby

I decided on this subtopic becuase this is one of the roots debates on the debate of abortion. It is the debate of when a fetus becomes a baby. Is it at conception? Is it at birth? Or is it even somewhere inbetween? To help figure that out, I found out what happened at each week during the pregnancy.

This is what the baby looks like throughout the pregnancy:

Below is what happens during each week of the pregnancy to help me determine when the fetus becomes a baby:


2 weeks: The sperm's nucleus merges with the egg's nucleus. The gender is decided.
3 weeks: The zygote starts getting nutrients that it needs to grow. It also starts discarding waste through a primitive circulartory system.
4 weeks: The amniotic sac and amniotic fluid become present.
5 weeks: The neural tube starts to develop from which the brain, spinal chord, nerves, and backbone begin to sprout. The first layer of the tube also gives rise to skin, hair, nails, mammary and swear glands, and tooth enamel. The heart and circulartory system begin to form and the heart begins to beat.
6 weeks: The nose, mouth, and ears begin to develop. The arms and legs begin to protrude. The heart is beating at 100-160 beats per minute. The intestines begin to develop, the bud to the lungs appear, the pituitary gland starts to form, as are the rest of the brain, muscles, and bones.
7 weeks: The hands and feet start emerging and the eyelids start to form.
8 weeks: Webbed fingers and toes stick out. The eyelids continue to form and are fused to the eye. Breathing tubes form from the mouth to the developing lungs.
9 weeks: The heart finishes dividing into the four chambers. The teeth start to form. Organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The eyes are formed. The mouth, nose, and ears become more distinct.
10 weeks: It is the beginning of the fetal period. The kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver are starting to function. Nails form on the fingers and peach fuzz is covering the skin. The limbs can also bend now.
11 weeks: The hands soon start opening and closing into fists, tooth buds are beginning to appear. The fetus is already kicking and stretching, though the mother feels nothing. The diaphram is forming.
12 weeks: Reflexes start kicking in. The fingers soon are able to open and close individually. The toes can curl, the eye muscles clench, the mouth can suck a thumb, the kidneys begin to secrete urine, the eyes move from the side of the head to the fromt of the head. The ears move to almost the right place.
13 weeks: The fingertips form and the body size catches up to the head. The organs are clearly visible through thin skin.
14 weeks: It can now squint, frown, pee, and suck its thumb. The body starts to be able to stretch out. A fine downy covering of hair develops all over the body. The liver starts making bile. The hands and feet are more flexible and active.
15 weeks: The air sacs in the lungs begin to develop. The legs grow stronger than the arms. It can move all joints and limbs and can sense light. The taste buds are forming. It may be possible to tell the gender through the use of an ultrasound.
16 weeks: The legs are much more developed and the head more erect than before. The toenails begin to develop.
17 weeks: The skeleton is changing to bone and the sweat glands start to develop.
18 weeks: The arms and legs begin to flex. The ears are in final position. The uterus and fallopian tubes form in girls. The genetals become noticable in boys.
19 weeks: The brain starts designating specail areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. It may be able to hear voices. The arms and legs are in the right proportions now. Hair is beginning to sprout on the scalp.
20 weeks: It can now swallow. Merconium, which is the sticky black by product of digestion, is produced.
21 weeks: Movement may now start to be felt by mother. The eyebrows and lids are present. The vagina begins to form for girls.
22 weeks: The lips, eyelids, eyebrows are more distinct and tooth buds form beneath gums. The eyes are formed but lack pigment in the irises. The pancreas is developing steadily.
23 weeks: The blood vessels that allow breathing are forming. The ears are becoming more keen.
24 weeks: The brain is growing quickly. The taste buds and lungs continue to develop.
25 weeks: The body gains more weight and hair.
26 weeks: It can hear both parents chat with each other. Small amounts of amniotic fluid are inhaled and exhaled. The body continues to put on baby fat. The testicles begin to decent into scrotum for boys.
27 weeks: At regular intervals it sleeps and wakes. The eyes open and close. The brain is very active and thumb sucking possible. The rythmic movement a mother might feel could be hiccups.
28 weeks: The eyes have lashes. It might be possible for it to see light that filters int hrough the womb.
Continuing to adding baby fat to body.
29 weeks: The head is growing bigger. The skeleton is hardening and bones are absorbing calcium.
30 weeks: The eyesight is developing, though not very keen. The skeleton continues to harden and grow larger.
31 weeks: There is movement of the head from side to side. The arms, legs and body begin to plump out. There is a lot of movement of extremities.
32 weeks: The skin is becoming soft and smooth. The body is gaining weight fast. The toemails , fingernails and real hair are deveoped.
33 weeks: The skeleton continues to harden. The overall appearance is less alien like.
34 weeks:  The body begins to round out and the central nervous system and lungs are maturing. It can now be born and survive.
35 weeks: There is not much room to move around. The kidneys are fully developed. The liver can process some waste product. Most of the basic physical elements are complete.
36 weeks: More weight is gained. The down covering of hair on body is shedding. It now is called a full term baby.
37 weeks: The hair is fully developed on head(usually). The lungs are most likely to be mature enough to fully adjust to the outside world.
38 weeks: The body is plumped up- more weight gain. The hands can apply firm grip. The organs are matured and ready for outside world.
39 weeks: The layer of fat continues to build to prepare for the outside world.
40 weeks: It is ready for birth. The skull bones are not yet fused, so that the baby will fit through the birth canal.
41 weeks: If not born within the next week labor will probably be induced.
("Pregnancy")

I also wanted to look at what people around the world think. I looked around the internet and came to this conclusion: They think everything. I saw answers ranging from the moment of conception, to the first breath, and anything inbetween. I think this is a part of why abortion is such a big issue. Many people say that abortion is killing a living baby, yet others say that it isn't. When the fetus becomes a baby, is the whole root of the debate. If everyone agreed on when the fetus became a baby, there wouldn't be near as much debate on it. What do you think? Does the fetus become a baby at conception? When the heart starts beating? When the mother starts feeling the baby? Or even at first breath of oxygenated air? For me, it is when the baby can feel pain and has feelings.

Below is a picture of when a pastor, a judge, and a teenager think life begins.