NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Biology Chapter 4: Reproductive Health

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

Ans. Reproductive health in a society is significant because the people are aware of:
(i) Birth control methods, maintaining the population size and prevention of unwanted pregnancies.
(ii) Sexually transmitted diseases and methods to avoid them.
(iii) Importance breast feeding and post natal care of the mother and baby.
(iv) Equal opportunities for the male and female children.
(v) Manage disordered related to reproductive health.

2. Suggest the aspects of reproductive health which need to be given special attention in the present scenario.

Ans.The aspects of reproductive health which need to be given special attention are :
(i) Creating awareness to the individuals, especially to the young minds about reproductive organs, accessory organs of reproduction, secondary sexual characters, adolescence and related changes.
(ii) Providing knowledge about available birth control methods, care of pregnant mothers, post-natal care of the mother and child, importance of breast feeding etc.
(iii) Creating awareness about consequences of uncontrolled population growth and social evils (sex abuses and sex-related crimes, use of drugs, tobacco and alcohol etc.) among young people.
(iv) Crime like rape should strickly death with.

3. Is sex education necessary in schools? Why?

Ans. Yes, sex education is necessary in school. The reasons are given as:
(i) It provides the first information about reproductive organs, accessory organ and about reproductive health.
(ii) To make to students about the sex and the misconception about it that is prevailing around them.
(iii) Also to ensure them that there nothing to hide it so they can freely tell to their parents and teachers regarding any issues.
(iv) To tell them about the physical changes taking place at the time of puberty. The should know about the menstrual cycle and its precaution at right age.
(v) To made aware about sexually transmitted diseases and to good touch and bad touch.

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, the reproductive health in country has improved in the past 50 years.
The areas of improvement are year as:
(i) Massive child immunization programme, which helps in reducing infants mortality rate.
(ii) Maternal and infant mortalityrate has been decreased drastically due to post natal care.
(iii) Increasing use of contraceptiv es which results in decrease in sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
(iv) Family planning motivates people to have small family

5. What are the suggested reasons for population explosion?

Ans.Reasons for population explosion are as follows:
(i) Increased medical facilities along with better living conditions, which in turn increases the longevity of an individual.
(ii) Decline in Death rate like decline in Maternal Mortality Rate decline in Infant Mortality Rate
(iii) Increase in the number of people in the reproductive age.
(iv) Illiteracy causes people to unaware of birth control leads to unwanted pregnancies.

6. Is the use of contraceptives justified ? Give reasons.

Ans. Yes, the use of contraceptives is absolutely justified.
This is because of the following reasons given as:
(i) At the present time, the population is increasing tremendously use of contraceptive devices and methods reduces the unwanted pregnancies, thus controlling birth rate.
(ii) It also prevents sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS.

7. Removal of gonads cannot be considered as a contraceptive option. Why?

Ans. The removal of gonads cannot be considered as a contraceptive option because removal of gonad in male and female is carried out by vasectomy and tubectomy respectively, which results in infertility. If gonads are removed gametogenesis is ceased.
Contraceptives can be reversed but not the surgical methods like gonad removal.

8. Amniocentesis for sex determination is banned in our country. Is this ban necessary? Comment.

Ans. Amniocentesis is a process to find out any abnormalities in foetus. However, thus technique was misused to determine the sex of child. Some parents used to about their female child before birth. Thus in order to prevent killing of female foetus it is necessary to ban amniocentesis for sex determination.

9. Amniocentesis for sex determination is banned in our country. Is this ban necessary? Comment.

Ans. Assisted Reproductive techniques are those medical procedures which are used to treat infertility. A few of assisted reproductive technique are in-vitro fertilization, intra cytoplasmic sperm injection, Gamete Intrafallopian Tube Transfer, Zygote Intrafallopian Tube Transfer etc.
(i) In vitro fertilization: Mother’s egg and her Father’s sperm are collected and mixed together in a laboratory to achieve fertilization outside the body. The embryo produced may then be transferred into the female uterus. It is commonly known as test tube baby programme.
(ii) Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT): A procedure in which eggs are retrieved from a woman, mixed with sperm and immediately replaced in one or other of the women’s fallopian tubes so that they fertilize inside the body (in-vivo).
(iii) Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): In this method, sperm and eggs are retrieved from both the parents. A single sperm is injected directly into an egg, then the fertilized egg is implanted into the woman’s uterus.
(iv) Artificial insemination: In this technique, the semen is collected either from husband or a healthy donor and is artificially introduced either into the vagina or into the uterus of the female (IUI-Intra uterine insemination).

10. What are the measures one has to take to prevent from contracting STDs?

Ans. (i) Avoiding sex with unknown partner/multiple partners.
(ii) Always use condoms and protection during intercourse.
(iii) In case of doubt, go for medical professional for early detection and get complete treatment if diagnosed with disease.
(iv) Complete abstinence from sex with infected individuals.

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. Due to internal factors like incompatibility, abortion could happen spontaneously.
(b) False. It is due to abnormalities/defects in either male or female or both the partners.
(c) True, but it is limited to period up to six months after parturition.
(d) True. Creating awareness about sex-related aspects removes the myths and miconcep- tions about these problems.

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 the rural women.
(d) In E.T. techniques, embryos are always transferred into the uterus.

Ans. (a) Surgical methods of contraception prevent gamete transport and thereby prevent conception.
(b) Except for hepatitis-B, genital herpes, and HIV infections, other STD diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated properly.
(c) Oral pill are very popular contraceptives among the educated urban women.
(d) In E.T . techniques, embryos with 8 blastomeres are transferred into fallopian tube and more than 8 blastomeres are transferred into the uterus.