According to a recent study, one percent of mothers in the U.S. claim to be virgins.

As we close in on Christmas, many recall the immaculate conception of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Virgin births do indeed happen, says CBS News. However, virgin births only happen among non-humans who reproduce asexually. These are animals like sharks, komodo dragons and various species of snakes.

The British Medical Journal does say that many mothers retell the birth of Jesus around this time of year. 31 percent of the virgin births were by young mothers who are likely to have signed a chastity pledge.

Researchers studied data on approximately 7,900 women various times over a 14-year period. 45 women in total gave birth while insisting that they were virgins. 60 percent of these women found out that they were pregnant during Advent.

Now, many of you are probably wondering how these young women believe that they are virgins even though they have gone through pregnancy. According to Slate, many virgin mothers have cultural morals that value virginity. The importance of these virgin mothers’ religion was placed on virginity, not virgin births.

There has never been a medical definition of virginity, so it is up for debate in many ways. It seems kind of silly, but many teenagers don’t always consider penis-in-vagina intercourse as really losing your virginity.

Because of these cultural and educational factors, we have virgin mothers.