Deciding to have a baby

In a previous post, I discussed how Rome got pregnant. But this begs the larger question, how does any Vuduri woman get pregnant? Or more pointedly, who decides when? In the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, Rome and Rei have a brief discussion about this just before they arrive at Deucado:

     Rei looked at Rome, his beautiful Rome, sitting there, as pregnant as a person could be without bursting. He loved her more than life itself.
     Rei took a deep breath. “Rome?” Rei asked.
     “Yes, mau emir?” she said.
     “I know about you and me,” he said, pointing to her stomach. “But I’m curious. How is it that the Vuduri come to have children? How do they decide when it is time?”
     “The Overmind decides when and with whom. It is all planned out for us,” Rome replied.
     “So what about sex?” Rei asked.
     “What about it?” she answered back. “I like it but now is not the right time,” she said, winking at him.
     “Ha, ha,” Rei said. “That isn’t what I mean. Seriously. Do the Vuduri, regular Vuduri, like, ever do it just for fun? Do they even enjoy it?”
     Rome smiled at him. “You already know the answer to that. The Vuduri only have sex to procreate, never to recreate.”
     “Well, what about just being close? Human contact and all?” Rei asked.
     “They would not want that. They are already connected to the Overmind. They already have whatever closeness they can accrue from that connection, never the physical,” Rome replied.
     “Well, at least they’d have to do it a couple of times, right? To get a woman pregnant?” Rei asked hopefully.
     “Absolutely not,” Rome said. “You have studied our physiology. With the aid of the Overmind, Vuduri women can control exactly when they ovulate so it would only be just the one time.”
     “No,” Rei said, disappointed. “Just once? There’s no fun in that. Couldn’t they…what about all the benefits of sex? Men and women, everybody has needs. You mean they never, you know, take care of themselves?” Rei was trying to be delicate.
     “No. When it comes to sex, Vuduri women only serve as receptacles for men and only for the purpose of procreation when it is ordained. That is it.”
     “So how did you…how did you develop the, the, capacity?” Rei asked. “I guess what I am asking is how did you figure out what to do?”
     “Because, mau emir, I am no longer connected.” Rome’s expression changed to one of extreme tenderness. She raised her voice slightly. “Now I am mandasurte. I feel what I feel and it is all mine. No one to share. And I love you. That is something a normal Vuduri could not say. You and I, we do not have sex, we make love. That is the difference.”
     “That we do, honey,” Rei said. “And I do love you. I don’t even remember what life was like without you.”