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But I Can't Be Pregnant: Difference between revisions

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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Starman (Filmfilm)|Starman]]'': After he and Jenny made love on the train Starman proclaims "I gave you a baby tonight." Jenny says that this is impossible because she is incapable of having a child. Starman explains that he used his powers to alleviate this.
* In ''[[Hellboy (Filmfilm)|Hellboy]] 2: The Golden Army'', {{spoiler|Abe finds out that Liz is pregnant with Hellboy's children. Later, Liz is seen going through about four or five pregnancy tests, on account of the pregnancy}} being physically impossible for several reasons.
* ''[[Baby Mama]]'': {{spoiler|at the end of the film, Kate, who was supposed to be infertile or close to, discovers that she is pregnant}}.
* ''[[Village of the Damned (Film)|Village of the Damned]]'' (from the sci-fi novel ''[[The Midwich Cuckoos (Literature)|The Midwich Cuckoos]]'' by [[John Wyndham]]). Aliens impregnate every woman of child-bearing age in a small English town. Initial reactions range from joy (from a previously childless couple) to suspicion (from a husband who's been away at sea) to the above incredulous reaction from a teenage virgin.
* ''[[Dogma]]''. Despite having been infertile for apparently years, at the end of the movie Bethany is told by Metatron that she's [[Double Standard Rape (Divine Onon Mortal)|miraculously]] pregnant (necessary because she's the Last Scion - need to keep that bloodline going). It's heavily implied that because she's a descendant of the Virgin Mary her pregnancy is similar to Mary's conception of Jesus.
* The Czech films ''[[Divided We Fall]]'' and ''[[Little Otik]]'' both in a sense follow this trope and subvert it. Both couples in both films are infertile (in both cases {{spoiler|it seems it is HIS fault, not hers}}), and both couples get around nature to create a child, either a real one - {{spoiler|by using someone else to impregnate the wife}} (''Divided We Fall'') or a monstrous one, {{spoiler|by using a piece of wood carved into the rough shape of a child as a doll, which then comes to life and starts to devour the household}} (''Little Otik''). In each case, it is the neighbours who are forced to suspend their disbelief at the "fact" the wife is pregnant, rather than the couple themselves, who collude in trying to bring a child into the world.
* Once Bella becomes pregnant in ''[[The Twilight Saga]]: Breaking Dawn'' Edward asks if it's even possible as he is a vampire and Bella is a human.
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'''Doctor''': Then you can be pregnant. }}
* A really interesting example in the French-Canadian film ''Familia'': teenage Marguerite learns she is pregnant, ''but she's never had sex.'' Though not really religious, she begins to wonder if this is a second virgin birth. {{spoiler|She eventually learns that someone slipped her a date-rape drug at a party; she thought she had just been really drunk.}}
* ''[[Prometheus (Film)|Prometheus]]'' uses this in the most horrifying way imaginable: {{spoiler|Even though she is unable to bear children, Elizabeth finds out that she is indeed pregnant, but with an alien abomination. And so she performs an emergency surgery on herself whilst conscious in order to remove the creature from her womb}}.
 
 
== Literature ==
* Examples from [[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]: Abraham and Sarah in the book of Genesis, where Sarah didn't believe it at first when Abaraham revealed that God had told her she'd be pregnant, as she was past childbearing age. Subverted with the Virgin Mary in the synoptic Gospels, since ''she'' knew beforehand that she'd be the mother of Christ, but Joseph [[Mistaken for Cheating|suspects her of infidelity]] until an angel shows up to personally set him straight. There's also the infertility example with Elizabeth and Zechariah, parents of John the Baptist. Here it's Zechariah who utters the "but that's impossible" line. He's struck with dumbness until the child is born as punishment.
* Janette Oke's ''Prairie Romance'' series, starting with ''Love Comes Softly'', develops a huge clan of children under the care and guidance of main character Marty and her husband (Davis?). Several books down the line, after Oke had "officially" finished the series, the series starts back up with Marty realizing that she is again pregnant... and thinking it beyond embarrassing that her daughter will be younger than several of her grandchildren.
* In the ''[[The Time Travelers Wife]]'' Clare gets pregnant {{spoiler|after Henry has a vasectomy, by having sex with an early version of Henry who traveled from before his surgery}}.
* In ''Monsieur Malaussène'' by Daniel Pennac, a nun whose chastity is beyond doubt becomes pregnant. There are a number of pregnancies in this novel; this being Pennac, they're not straightforward.
* In Heinrich von Kleist's 1808 novella, ''The Marquise of O'', the titular Marquise finds herself mysteriously pregnant and places an announcement in the newspaper demanding the unknown father of her child identify himself so she can marry him. It turns out {{spoiler|the father is a Russian count who ravished her while she was unconscious. They do indeed marry and eventually come to have a happy marriage.}}
* In the ''[[Alien Nation (TV series)|Alien Nation]]'' [[Expanded Universe]] novel ''Cross of Blood'', Tectonese Cathy Frankel turned out to be pregnant. This came as a shock to her human boyfriend Detective Matt Sikes, because among the Tectonese, pregnancy can only occur when the female is inseminated by a "third" gender or "catalyst." It is later discovered that, due to their genetic adaptability, a Human/Tectonese pairing can result in pregnancy. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, [[Tear Jerker|Matt and Cathy's child was unable to survive after being born, due to her mixed genetics]].}}
* In [[John Varley]]'s ''[[Gaea Trilogy|Titan]]'', the female members of the spaceship crew all turn out to be pregnant after they're released into Gaea's interior. This trope especially applies to April Polo, a lesbian who's never had sex with a man.
** Arguably subverted by the fact that, unlikely as these conceptions might be, none of the characters propose any alternative explanation for their failure to menstruate (e.g. wondering if they'd been sterilized rather than impregnated). There's little actual denial, just dismay.
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* In Jacqueline Carrey's ''Santa Olivia'', a genetically modified man overhears scientists discussing his apparent sterility. After he escapes, he meets a woman and they have sex. Lo and behold...she gets pregnant with his daughter.
* In the [[Deverry]] novels, Rhys' first wife is cast aside for being barren. Her mother-in-law arranges for her to remarry to a widower with several children from a previous marriage (and as such would not need to care as to whether or not his new wife could provide an heir). Shortly afterwords, she surprises everyone by getting pregnant, and later gives birth to a healthy boy. It seems that ''she'' wasn't the sterile one in her previous marriage...
* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Friday (Literaturenovel)|Friday]]'', the titular protagonist is sterile by permanent (but reversible) surgery, and is therefore extremely surprised to discover that she's expecting during a long interstellar voyage. It turns out that {{spoiler|her employers pulled a fast one on her, implanting the embryo she was supposed to deliver to a wealthy couple in her rather than keeping it in a stasis capsule. She concludes from this that they plan to [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|kill her]] at the end of her mission, and decides to jump ship early. She ends up raising the child as her own.}}
 
 
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Charlotte Ross' [[Reality Subtext|real life pregnancy]] was written into the 11th season of ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', despite her character's being established as infertile due to complications from a teen pregnancy. This was a rather mild retcon, revealed as her doctors telling her it would be ''almost'' impossible for her to get pregnant.
* Delenn's pregnancy in ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' was thought to be impossible, due to her hybrid biology. [[Word of God]] states that Sheridan was aware a child ''was'' possible, but wasn't sure if the future had been changed, and, if it had been changed, if the circumstances that led to the child were still possible. Time travel is tricky that way.
* Subverted in ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', where Blanche's suspected pregnancy turns out to be menopause.
** So did Kitty from ''[[That 70s Show]]''.
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* The Korean couple (Jin and Sun) in ''[[Lost]]''. Jin was sterile before he came to the island, which causes Sun to believe the baby was conceived during her extramarital affair before the plane crash. However, Juliet explains that male sperm count is five times normal on the island, and a sonogram shows that the baby was indeed conceived on the island.
** A particularly heartbreaking example, as pregnant women tend not to survive their pregnancy on the island -- if the baby was conceived before Sun came to the island, she's fine, and if the baby is miraculously her husband's and conceived after their island-inspired reconciliation, she's going to die. [[Tear Jerker|She's very happy with the result]].
* Scully in ''[[The X -Files]]'' got pregnant about four seasons after being diagnosed as infertile. Interestingly, the actress' real-life pregnancy had taken place, and been somewhat clumsily covered with big coats, sitting at desks, etc. about two years before the character was supposedly rendered infertile.
* Inverted in ''[[Friends]]'': Courteney Cox and her husband were trying for a baby, so her character Monica and her husband Chandler started trying for one too. When Cox and David Arquette started having fertility problems, Monica and Chandler started having them too. Ironically, Cox became pregnant in the final season, when Monica and Chandler had already agreed to adopt. Lots of baggy tops towards the end of season 10.
** Additionally, Ross was once described as a "medical marvel," as his parents' doctor had believed his mother was infertile prior to her pregnancy.
* On ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', Connor, the [[Dhampyr|human offspring]] of a fling between the vampires Angel and Darla. Vampires were canonically stated to be infertile. Darla apparently responds by going on a world tour searching for someone who can tell her what's going on and/or kill the mystically protected child, leaving corpses in her disappointed wake.
* Sharon Watts in ''[[Eastenders]]'' believed herself to be infertile after a botched abortion for years until she conceived a baby with her adoptive brother/husband Dennis, [[Downer Ending|who was murdered]] a couple of episodes later.
* In ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'', Gabby has a miscarriage in the second season and her doctor says she is unable to bear children any longer. By the fifth season, however, thanks to the [[Time Skip]], she has two young daughters. (The "But I can't be pregnant" scene is later shown in a flashback, complete with Gabby slapping the doctor).
* In ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', House confronts a complainy teenage girl on an airplane:
{{quote| '''House''': You're pregnant.<br />
'''Girl''': But I can't --<br />
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** Played with in the episode "Joy to the World," where a woman is pregnant even though she and her fiance are waiting till marriage, and she swears she hasn't cheated. A skeptical House runs a DNA test and returns dumbfounded to tell them that there actually is no father, and the woman is the first ever case of human parthogenesis, an incredible phenomenon... except she's not, she just cheated on her fiance, and he's lying so that they'll be bowled over with elation and gratitude and get him a Christmas present, which he bet Wilson he could get a patient to do.
** Another episode includes a woman who miscarried a baby, but claimed she couldn't have been pregnant as she hadn't had sex in over a year. Turns out {{spoiler|she'd unknowingly been sleepwalking and having sex with her ex who lived in the same apartment building}}.
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. [[Half-Human Hybrid]] B'Elanna Torres is surprised when this happens with her human boyfriend Tom Paris, as the odds against a Klingon woman and a human man having children naturally is so high<ref> when we see the first such hybrid in ''TNG'' it had a human mother and Klingon father, which was also seen as surprising but not impossible</ref>. The actress playing B'Elanna had become pregnant several years earlier, which was hidden by having her [[Wrench Wench]] character wear a work smock with tools in the top pocket.
* Maude in ''[[Maude]]'' became unexpectedly pregnant at 47 while taking birth control, and later had the very first sitcom abortion.
* Claudia Black, who played Vala Mal Doran on ''[[Stargate SG -1]]'', got pregnant with her first child shortly into fliming for the ninth season. She was reportedly worried about being taken off the show or ruining the plot.. fortunately the creators were already planning a storyline involving her being pregnant. As a result, Vala ended up lost in the Ori's home galaxy for much of Season 9, and when she came back in the last few episodes, was revealed {{spoiler|to be pregnant with a [[Dark Messiah|child conceived by the Ori]] so as to [[Batman Gambit|get around the rules barring them from interfering with an Ancient-protected galaxy.]] }}
* In ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'' Lister sees his future self with twin babies. The question is raised of how this could be possible without a woman on board, and he says it will be fun finding out. {{spoiler|It is certainly fun, but not for him - to Rimmer's delight, [[Mister Seahorse|Lister gets pregnant]] by his parallel universe self and has to give birth to the twins, conveniently between series 2 and 3.}}
* ''[[Coupling]]'' had a pregnancy scare storyline at the end of season 3 - Sally is the one who believes she's at risk and asks the other girls to take a test as well as a control group. She then gets the tests mixed up, so when she finds out one of them is positive, she realises it can be any of them. While they're waiting to go back and buy more tests, {{spoiler|Susan}} reveals that she just found out she's infertile. Towards the end, {{spoiler|Jane}}'s test comes back negative, which results in {{spoiler|Sally}} assuming it's her, and becoming deeply unhappy since it probably wrecks her chances with {{spoiler|Patrick}}. And then {{spoiler|Susan}} walks in with a positive test.
* Parodied on ''[[The Young Ones]]'', where Vyvyan -- who is male -- announces he's pregnant:
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{{quote| '''Becker:''' You know what this means...<br />
'''Patient:''' ...it's a miracle!<br />
'''Becker:''' [[Sure, Let's Go Withwith That]] }}
* In ''[[Sugar Rush (TV)]]'', Kim's mother Stella becomes pregnant after getting back together with Nathan, even though in the first series she told her lover that he had {{spoiler|had a vasectomy}}.
* In ''[[Flash Forward 2009|FlashForward]]'', Janis sees in her flash-forward that she is pregnant. She can't believe this as she is a lesbian. Eventually she does become pregnant by {{spoiler|having sex with Demetri}}.
* ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'' subverted this when a deceased relative's will stipulates that any family member that conceives a new child will get a $500,000 inheritance. Al and Peg naturally go for it, ''but'' Peg doesn't want to pregnant. She just wants regular sex, so she secretly takes birth control. Al finds out eventually and gets his revenge by faking Peg's home pregnancy test for a positive result. Peg goes into this mode, but Al twists the knife further by saying another relative beat them to the inheritance and reminds her of everything she went through with Kelly and Bud (morning sickness, weight gain and diaper changes). Peg effectively [[Goes Mad From the Revelation]], while Al is gleeful.
 
== Tabletop Games ==
* In the ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game)|Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' supplement ''Time of Thin Blood'', it's revealed that fifteenth-generation vampires can accidentally or intentionally reactivate various bodily functions temporarily-- including the reproductive system, enabling them to produce offspring with humans.
** The [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Apocalypse]] adventure ''Rage Across the Heavens'' largely revolves around a werewolf cub born of two supposedly infertile Metis werewolves (the parents are both offspring of two werewolves, rather than one werewolf and either a human or a wolf).
** Normally, [[Promethean: The Created|Prometheans]] are infertile until they finally become human, but one very rare possibility is that they manage to have a baby of their own, whether with a human or another Promethean. The kids turn out both mortal and normal... except that they can sense Azoth and are completely immune to [[Hate Plague|Disquiet]].
** [[Changeling: The Lost (Tabletop Game)|Fetches]] are infertile as well, being magical constructs. Under certain exceptional circumstances, however, they may produce offspring. Fifty percent chance it's a nightmarish thing of evil, fifty percent chance it's mostly normal but with some sort of [[Ambiguous Disorder]] and with blood that poisons the True Fae.
 
 
== Videogames ==
* Played with in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty|Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty,]]'' when Rose tells Jack she's pregnant but {{spoiler|it's part of a surreal sequence of events where you can't trust anything that's happening}}. Also, it's possible she can't be pregnant because {{spoiler|she might not actually exist}}. It turns out she is, and, obviously, she does, but the whole of ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]'' was such a [[Mind Screw]] that it takes until ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots|the fourth game]]'' for any of this to be clear.
 
 
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