*** Quoting Charlotte Jerscheid to Kenneth Pruett dated 10-12-97 ***
>  MM>> I can't imaging the Borg having the built-in capability to 
> reproduce
>  MM>> and not using it.
>  CJ>> But remember that the Borg assimilate different species, although
> most
>  CJ>> of the Borg we've seen have been humanoid. Wouldn't it be easier 
> to
>  CJ>> assimilate babies than to go through all the trouble of pregnancy
> and
>  CJ>> birth?
>  JC>> Wouldn't that lead to quite an unstable position? In order to 
> keep
>  JC>> replacing  themselves they would need access to an unassimilated
>  JC>> population so they can  assimilate the babies
> 
> The Shakers had the same problem. I guess it's an issue that gets swept
> under the rug, and a developing society doesn't realize the problem
> until the situation that created the problem is a major building block
> =of= the society. BWDIK, I'm not an anthropologist.
> 
>  KP> What of total test-tube babies?
> 
> Correct me if I missed something in the episode, but didn't Seven of
> Nine say in a recent Voyager episode that the Borg 'do not reproduce'
> because it is inefficient? I thought she then went on to say that they
> assimilated the babies (do they drink Assimilac, I wonder? )
> Seems to me it =would= be more efficient just to assimilate adults,
> rather than having to take care of the rugrats.
I recall in an early Borg-related ST:TNG, a landing party was exploring the 
Borg ship and found an infant with some Borg parts implanted. The conclusion 
was that the Borg use in vitro fertilization and ex utero gestation and 
childbirth.
As part of the collective, they would never BE rugrats. They'd immediately be 
assimilated and be (for all intents and purposes) adults in child bodies.
IMHO. ;)
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