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There is a fundamental difference between a sperm and an egg prior to fertilization, and the zygote which results from fertilization. The difference is genetic. Sperm and unfertilized eggs in themselves are not complete. If left alone they will die after a few days, never developing into anything other than what they are.
The sperm shares the genetic code of the man, the egg shares the genetic code of the woman. It is only in combination, when the 23 chromosomes from the father join the 23 chromosomes from the mother, through fertilization, that a new, biologically distinct human beings comes into existence. This one fertilized cell, in fact, contains all the information necessary for a lifetime of human growth, including the child's sex, the child's hair, skin and eye color, and the child's eventual height.
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