ABSTRACT
It may seem inconsistent to consider, first of all, the abstention from actual communion. For this must appear a contradiction in terms, both in its narrower sense of coitus, and in its wider significance for marital love and life together. But practical experience teaches that abstention from coitus between married couples who are in love with one another, body and soul, and who remain faithful to their marriage covenant, is not, by any means, generally abstention from all acts and endearments of a sexual character. On the contrary! These endearments may become so fervently intimate that they culminate in orgasm of one or both partners. And this explains the possibility that pregnancy may result, even when the sexual act is avoided. I know of at least two cases in which I am absolutely convinced that there was no coitus—yet there was conception! We have discussed possible explanations in the preceding chapter.
