Pregnancy
| Trope · Genre | ||
|---|---|---|
| Synonyms: | ||
| Related: | Mpreg, Kidfic, Curtainfic | |
| See Also: | Safe Sex | |
| Tropes · Slash Tropes · Tropes by Fandom | ||
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | ||
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Pregnancy is often used as a story trope both in fanworks and in canon. Most pregnancy stories involve a woman being or becoming pregnant, but mpreg, male pregnancy, is a genre with its own fans.
Pregnancy fic can be written as a variety of curtainfic, focused on the domestic details of preparing for the birth and its effect on the couple's relationship, and often continuing with kidfic. It may also be used as a plot device to create conflict or drama, especially if the pregnancy is accidental.
Pregnancy in Canon
The pregnancy of female characters in canon often provokes strong mixed reactions from fans. Some fans see many canonical pregnancy storylines as a way of relegating strong female characters to domestic roles. For example, many fans of Tonks in Harry Potter fandom disliked the way her pregnancy seemed to be used to move her out of an active role through most of the final book. Other fans have argued against what they see as the unfair assumption that a character's pregnancy means that she is becoming a less strong or interesting character.
Pregnancy story-lines in tv canons are sometimes prompted by the real-life pregnancy of the actress portraying the character. These may or may not be dealt with well, and depending on the genre of TV, the baby may be done away with in a kidnapping or miscarriage storyline to avoid having to introduce a young child into the storyline.
See also Pregnant Badass, Deliver Us From Evil, Express Delivery, and Screaming Birth at TV Tropes.
Pregnancy in SciFi/Fantasy Canons
Pregnancy in scifi and fantasy canons is often magical or unusual in some way[1], and may play on horror or science fiction tropes about "demon babies" or forced impregnation by non-human beings. Stay Awake, a fanvid by Laura Shapiro, critiques the forced impregnation trope using examples from several television shows.
Popular fannish characters on sf/fantasy shows who have been non-consensually impregnated by evil forces, had their eggs or ovaries stolen by evil forces, gave birth to children who were then kidnapped by evil forces, or gave birth to children who then magically "aged up" to become evil include [2]:
- Catherine Chandler (Beauty and the Beast)
- Claire Littleton (Lost)
- Cordelia Chase (twice) (Angel the Series)
- Dana Scully (The X-Files)
- Deanna Troi (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
- Gabrielle (Xena Warrior Princess)
- Gwen Cooper (Torchwood)
- Kara Thrace (Battlestar Galactica)
- Sydney Bristow (Alias)
- Vala Mal Doran (Stargate SG-1)
- Xena (Xena Warrior Princess)
Birth Control in Fanworks
Example Fanworks
- Star Trek: Species Diversity and You: A Sexual Safety Presentation by Grey Bard, includes birth-control tips for Starfleet officers.
Abortion in Fanworks
Example Fanworks
- SGA: Side Effects by Jane Elliot. Rare[3]mpreg story in which the pregnant man chooses to have an abortion.
References
- ↑ lim: SPOILERS for SG-1, Farscape, X-Files, Angel, the 4400 2008-02-28 (Accessed Nov. 8 2008)'
- ↑ liviapenn: Get a new schtick, boys 2008-03-07 (Accessed Nov. 8 2008)
- ↑ Mpreg Meta by Jane Elliot, 1 January 2011. (Accessed 8 April 2011)
