How babies are made

Babies are made when a man’s sperm cell meets a woman’s egg cell. This is called fertilization. The sperm and the egg each contain half of the genetic information needed to make a baby. They join together to form a brand new cell with the full set of instructions for making a baby. Think of it like mixing two different colors of paint to make a third color. The sperm and the egg are like the two colors and the new cell is like the third, new color. In the United States, about 4 million babies are born every year! That’s a lot of new babies! Fun Fact: A baby is born every 8 seconds in the United States!