It's possible I have lived many short lives to make the average fit the math and our science but I think something else is at play as I understand that while 17,043 looks vast, it's not and others have experienced many many more lives. I came up with this explanation and some who are very tuned in tell me it's close enough: “I believe that souls are time travelers in that we can choose to improv-script our masterclasses at any point in time. I do not believe an already-lived life has to have taken place in the past nor that a yet-to-be-lived life has to take place in the future. I do not believe that the paradoxes of timeline crossing as discussed in science fiction present an issue. Each chosen setting is an alternate reality.”

You're one of the few that I have seen that understand that souls incarnate in the womb. I've combined that with my understanding that date of death is part of our soul contracts to discuss the topic of abortion laws: https://medium.com/my-unpopular-opinion/my-unpopular-opinion-about-whether-anti-abortionists-and-pro-choice-people-should-agree-to-disagree-75e8b88cecb2 subtitled "Yes but not for the reasons you think — the fact is that under either side’s view, the unborn child does not require the protection of human laws"