The egg and sperm can travel from their factories, meet up, and then implant into a cozy bed of tissue.

卵子和精子可以從它們的工廠出發，相遇，然後植入舒適的組織床。

That's how pregnancy begins.

懷孕就是這樣開始的。

But if you don't want to get pregnant, there are a bunch of different ways to disrupt this process at basically every step along the way.

但是，如果你不想懷孕，有很多不同的方法可以在這一過程中的每一步打亂這一進程。

Hi, I'm Kate, and this is MinuteEarth.

大家好，我是凱特，這裡是 MinuteEarth。

One way to interrupt the pregnancy process is to stop production at the egg factory.

中斷懷孕過程的方法之一是停止雞蛋工廠的生產。

Even though a person has already made all the eggs they will ever make at birth, the eggs need to finish maturing in order to get released.

儘管人在出生時就已經制造了所有的卵子，但卵子需要完成成熟才能排出體外。

Certain hormones can block this final step of development, and the release of the eggs.

某些激素會阻礙發育的最後一步和卵子的排出。

That's how a lot of common forms of birth control work, like birth control pills, shots, patches you put on your skin, and rings you insert.

很多常見的節育方式都是這樣起作用的，比如避孕藥、避孕針、貼在皮膚上的避孕貼和避孕環。

When they're used correctly, these egg blockers are super effective, especially since they also disrupt a few other parts of the process, which we'll get to in a bit.

如果使用得當，這些卵子阻斷劑會非常有效，尤其是它們還能破壞過程中的其他幾個部分，我們稍後會詳細介紹。

And if you decide later on that you do want to get pregnant, you can just stop using these forms of birth control.

如果你後來決定要懷孕，你可以停止使用這些避孕藥具。

The egg factory will generally start right back up.

一般情況下，雞蛋工廠會重新啟動。

Theoretically, you could also stop production at the sperm factory.

理論上，你也可以停止精子工廠的生產。

There are a few trials looking into pills and shots to disrupt this part of the process, but none of them have been proven effective yet.

目前有幾項試驗正在研究用藥丸和針劑來擾亂這一過程，但還沒有任何一項試驗被證明是有效的。

That's likely because these factories produce so much sperm, more than a thousand little guys per second.

這可能是因為這些工廠生產的精子太多了，每秒要生產一千多個小傢伙。

What has worked, though, is interrupting sperm as they make their way to fertilize the egg.

不過，有效的方法是在精子前往受精卵的途中對其進行干擾。

It's possible to block the path sperm travel along, like with a surgical vasectomy, which is fairly permanent, or with an external or internal condom, or a diaphragm, or sponge, which are definitely short-term.

可以通過手術輸精管結紮術來阻斷精子的行進路線，這種方法是永久性的，也可以通過外用或內置保險套、隔膜或海綿來阻斷精子的行進路線，這種方法絕對是短期的。

Lots of hormonal IUDs also work by basically blocking the sperm's path.

許多荷爾蒙宮內節育器的作用也是基本上阻斷精子的路徑。

They make the liquid the sperm swim through so thick that the tiny tadpoles can't reach the egg.

它們讓精子游過的液體變得非常粘稠，以至於小蝌蚪無法接觸到卵子。

And remember those hormone-based types of birth control that stop production at the egg factory?

還記得那些在卵子工廠停止生產的激素避孕藥嗎？

The hormones in those also work here to thicken that liquid.

其中的荷爾蒙也能使液體變稠。

Other birth control methods go one step farther and actually try to destroy the sperm before they fertilize the egg.

其他節育方法則更進一步，在精子與卵子受精之前就將其消滅。

Spermicidal jelly contains chemicals that both slow sperm down and break apart their cell walls.

殺精凍含有化學物質，既能減緩精子的速度，又能破壞精子的細胞壁。

Though, on its own, this goo isn't super effective at preventing pregnancy.

不過，就其本身而言，這種粘液的避孕效果並不是很好。

Copper IUDs, which sperm are basically deathly allergic to, are a way longer-term, more effective way to kill sperm on their way to the egg.

精子對銅製宮內節育器過敏，而銅製宮內節育器是一種更長期、更有效的殺死精子的方法。

You can also block the egg's path via a tubal ligation, aka getting your tubes tied.

您還可以通過輸卵管結紮術（又稱輸卵管結紮術）阻斷卵子的路徑。

This surgery is more than 99% effective at preventing pregnancy, though it's hard to reverse, so it's usually used by people who are sure they don't want to get pregnant anymore.

這種手術的避孕效果超過 99%，但很難逆轉，是以通常只有那些確定自己不想再懷孕的人才會採用。

If, despite one or more of these efforts, egg and sperm do manage to meet up and fertilization occurs, a few of the forms of hormonal birth control we've talked about, including pills, shots, rings, and hormonal IUDs, have one additional way to disrupt the process.

如果卵子和精子在上述一種或多種努力下仍能相遇並受精，那麼我們所談到的幾種荷爾蒙節育方式，包括避孕藥、避孕針、避孕環和荷爾蒙宮內節育器，都有一種額外的方法來破壞受精過程。

Their hormones turn the cozy bed of tissue a fertilized egg would normally implant on into a thin, unwelcome mat that offers basically no way to stay attached.

它們的荷爾蒙會把受精卵正常植入的舒適組織床變成薄薄的、不受歡迎的墊子，使其基本上無法附著。

In other words, if you don't want to get pregnant, there are a lot of different ways to interrupt the process, from production to implantation.

換句話說，如果你不想懷孕，有很多不同的方法可以中斷從生產到植入的過程。

To learn more about the risks, effectiveness, and other benefits of specific types of birth control, check out the link below.

要了解有關特定類型避孕藥具的風險、有效性和其他益處的更多資訊，請查看下面的鏈接。