Birth - the first dangerous step into a hazardous world. From egg-laying to live-bearing, animals employ an extraordinary variety of techniques to disperse their offspring. Mothers with youngsters who devour their internal organs. Pregnant males. Babies which themselves give birth before adulthood. Hot crocodile eggs which become males and cool ones which turn into females. The diverse strategies have a simple aim - to launch their young with a good chance of progressing on the long, or short, road to reproducing.