Forums » RP Discussion » Pregnancy and babies

I was writing down some plot ideas for one my characters (one of which in a way would involve a child) and it made me wonder how other players here feel about involving children, babies and pregnancies in your roleplays?
I don’t mean roleplaying as a child-character but have your character interact with their own children (or the child(ren) of a friend or sibling!) and your character or their partner being pregnant?

It really just crossed my mind and I’m curious to see what you think about this (as I haven’t seen the topic(s) being discussed here before)! If you have any experiences, please feel free to share them. ^^

I admit, this is a rare yet rather enjoyable scenario for me. Here's kind of a long story...

One of my characters was an alien plant girl of sorts and she was very eager to have children. Other people didn't understand that this was part of both her culture and her biology, the role of her people was to protect the planet's environment and maintain balance. Part of this role involved restoring plant life, so her idea of children was actually plants! That simple misunderstanding (and the fact that she wasn't very educated or good at communicating) steered a lot of people away from her.

Then came this one guy who really enjoyed her presence. At first he talked to her because he felt sorry for her. She was brought to this alien planet for research purposes and she agreed to go, but he argued that because her people were rather primitive, there's no way she could have fully understood what she was getting into. Once delivered to the planet, she ended up spending the majority of her day alone in the (giant) greenhouse of a research facility. Leaving the greenhouse was rarely an option because the climate of this alien planet was a danger to her fragile biology. He took it upon himself to visit her.

After awhile they grew close, he did his best to educate her about the world, and then he decided to finally inquire her about the whole "help me make babies" thing. Turns out she couldn't replicate the plants from this planet because they're foreign to her, but she was desperate to do so because she had a natural sense for the imbalance. He helped her learn how to replicate the plants, all was well, they fell in love, and then he asked her about ACTUAL children.

So at first they were unsure whether or not they could even have children together. I mean, they're completely different species from completely different planets. Plus, he's a human and she's basically a plant. She ended up taking it upon herself to try her replication technique with a sample of his DNA. The scientist who housed her helped her obtain the DNA (that entire scene between him and the scientist was a rollercoaster of hilarity) and she did successfully replicate something from it, but the result was pretty much a human-sized sentient plant. She absolutely adored it, but he was confused. He ended up loving his weird plant son anyway.

Eventually he decided to just give her the talk about how this stuff works for humans, they tried it out, and then they finally had a genuine child together. At that point he became fixated on the idea of giving her the ability to leave the greenhouse. After all, they didn't want to raise the child in such an isolated environment. He organized some people to help him engineer a protective suit for her. It fit like a second layer of skin and was mostly translucent (so she could wear whatever she wanted on top of it) apart from the occasional seam or wire. Anyway, they had to make a few adjustments to it as she went through the stages of pregnancy, but she was always excited to experience the outdoors.

The baby came, it was a boy, and he was surprisingly human. I'm sure you can guess how raising the baby went so I'll cut the story off here. We skipped the actual birth scene because neither of us were interested in playing that, but we did detail a lot of the pregnancy process. Oh, and they kept their first plant son of course (though he was more like a pet). It was really fun and definitely a change of pace for me. To be honest I don't think I'd enjoy it as much without the sci-fi elements, but maybe that's just because I don't like realistic fiction much.

I have one of my characters who is searching for her family throughout space. Her mate had gone missing and her child was taken by her people after she was declared a traitor (the reasoning involved the childs existence entirely)

I've never actually reached a point in any of her rps yet where she was able to reclaim her child (or mate for that matter) but I have a strong desire to get to that point. Dealing with the rp difficulties she faces as well as having her child along for the ride would be an incredibly fun an interesting layer added to the rp, and to how she reacted and dealt with certain situations. I've actually also thought about her getting pregnant in one rp in particular, and though I doubt it would happen, I think that idea too would be a lot of fun to work around.

I guess I don't have any personal experiences yet, but this thought has also crossed my mind, and I'm eager to have some experiences of this nature.

I love all of the twists in this and how they all add up to something bigger!! And how it was all introduced by you with how she was misunderstood, met this guy who taught her how to make the plants, that sounds so cute!! And then they fell in love, how adorable :’) I also think it’s a good idea that they have one plant-pet-son and one actual son so it wasn’t too easy, you know? I’m not very much into sci-fi and such either but I was certainly very entertained by your story! It sounds very enjoyable

Oooh, that does sound very interesting! As mentioned earlier, I’m not very much into the whole space-theme but I can definitely see where you’re coming from! ^^
I feel the same way because while I do understand that some players might be uncomfortable with it (which they are, of course, allowed to) it is a part of human nature and in regards of roleplay, I really do think it helps one self and their partner to get to know their ocs a bit more on different topics that doesn’t seem to be explored or discussed very frequently c:
I do hope that you have some luck with your plan though, I really feel for your oc, sis has to find her mate and child!

I've got to say...that was really freaking interesting.

I have two main RPs like this. One of the couples had a girl and one is having a boy. Both have been really interesting to roleplay because there are special challenges with pregnancy and children that can be challenges for the couple and test their relationship.

There are interesting emotional aspects to it. There's the finding out about pregnancy aspect and how both parties react to that, which could lead to anxiety, joy, conflict, or hurt-comfort scenarios and pulling together, and that can be really sweet and romantic, in my opinion.

Then there are the challenges of the actual pregnancy which can be mood changes, body changes, all kinds of things that can lead to the same kind of variety of interactions and the same kind of interesting conflicts and resolutions.

And then there are the actual children being in the roleplay. In one of my RPs we both sort of take turns with writing what the child does. I think in the right term for the girl in that one is a non-player character, maybe... she's is kind of in the background of the plot most of the time, which is more about the adults.

But in the other RP...the child is a very important and fleshed-out character and my writing partner plays that character with exceptional detail and skill...showing the development as her age progresses...and it's very different from the way we do it in the other RP. Both are very enjoyable for me.

One is a modern romance RP and the other one is a fantasy RP.

Hmm I don't think I've role-played with my fellow partner pregnancy scenario, So I can't have my opinion in that matter, although my canon couples(my two characters or more) have children right now, Ragna and August have 17 children(two of which are adopted) surprisingly they're happy family, despite how rowdy it can be when your kids are 'demigods'.

Then there's Blake which has 3 wife's(Well he's king so he can provide for his family) and so far one kiddo which was biological clone of him and his future wife also he can mature quickly.(that's what happens when you're super strong and have living weapon of mass destruction inside of you, totally recommend 15/10)

I've never been a fan of pregnancy in roleplay; I've had one too many bad experiences with it. One player wanted my OC to impregnate theirs without a condom, even though I've told them he's had a vasectomy and is not that careless to forget a condom. They tried to circumvent that without my permission just so they could take the kid to raise themselves and write my OC off as an OOC deadbeat dad. I dropped the roleplay. Events like this and real life circumstances have thus soured me from the idea.

However, even though I don't roleplay pregnancy, it doesn't mean there's no children in my roleplays. In fact, two of my main characters have an adopted child with them that they adore more than anything. I would like to explore the possibility of adoption with another character one day, though. I rarely see that in roleplay, and it isn't really a common theme when it comes to bringing a child into a character's life and letting them have a family... At least from my experiences, anyway.

I skipped the responses so far, just FYI...

A friend and I have ended up with multiple families, each definitely unique.

For pregnancy stuff, I try to keep in mind various things I've learned about what the experience is like (and sometimes do some bonus research) in mind. Some of this has been pretty standard, some of it has been challenged in some way (I had one character who hated being pregnant, and another who raised the child she acted as midwife to bring into the world), and some of this has been complications (I had a character who went into early labor due to a mistake, and another who required a c-section from a warrior because her hips were too narrow and he was the only person present to help).

For babies, we actually tend to share infants as NPCs, and we'll both need to keep up with each other's presentation. Various other characters will naturally have their own responses, as well as responses to each other's responses concerning something so precious and fragile. As with pregnancy, this can vary a lot. One of the odder ones was the woman who hated being pregnant: when the child came, she still had maternal instincts demanding she protect it, but she was extremely selfish and utterly clueless about kids, so she despised her child at the same time. She ultimately left it with the father and abandoned them both because she just couldn't handle it and knew she'd end up actually murdering the kid if she stayed, and that idea was just as unbearable.

As we proceed, one of us will start kinda taking over the child as it ages, or we'll just decide which of us will take over as the personality starts developing more.

I always approach pregnancy in role-play with caution, not much different than IRL honestly. My first experience was soured after the partner opted out of any interaction with my character and the baby. Why? I'm not screwing with you. "They're nobles and he did his job" was the response I got, lmao. It was like all the months of relationship development were suddenly just scrubbed away because a child came into the equation. To top it off, he said his character would come back around to make another one and specifically requested that we always RP it out and never ftb. It was like the player and character became a totally different person. This was years ago on WoW (world of warcraft) and it will always blemish the thought.

(there were several experiences of 'attempts' from different people later because I guess role-playing a noblewoman immediately attracts those creepy few who see your character's womb as some kind of weird conquest)

I made friends with a pretty cool dude, our characters hit it off, fell in love and got married. My character got pregnant and all seemed right with the world! It was smooth sailing until he started dating someone who also played the game that couldn't stand his character being with someone else's, so the relationship was cut off unceremoniously and my character was faced with the difficult choice of aborting the baby. I didn't give him grief for it because it didn't seem my place to tell him, but our circle of mutual friends thought the whole thing was strange and unnecessary. He ended up breaking up with said person after some apparently unacceptable behavior but by then, the entirety of the situation had scarred my character so terribly she refused to let her former husband back into her life.

I'm jaded to pregnancy as something that comes up in RP where one of my own characters is concerned, but if a friend of theirs is pregnant, several of them would likely dote on the child like any fairytale godmother.

I definitely think that adding the more realistic things such as mood swings, etc., to a roleplay (in terms of pregnancy) adds to it because it affects both characters. In a relationship between two characters, only one would be pregnant and (realistically) reminded of it almost 24/7, where as the other character, who isn't pregnant, isn't reminded of it in the same way or as much, because they're not the one carrying the child.

I think the most important thing, like with any other topic in roleplays, is that all parts are enjoying it :')

It sounds quite like a wild ride, though!

I'm sorry you have had some rather unplesant experiences with that; too many bad experiences can sometimes add up and never make you want to explore a topic again (or at least for a while, but those are only my thoughts!). I always think it's a good idea to be clear with your partner where both of you stand on that topic, regarding if it involves one character impregnating another or not.

That makes sense! I don't feel like I see, or read about, many roleplays that involve children and barely, if ever any, that involve adopted children. I think that's a bit of a shame, but it might just be me because I prefer my roleplays to be mostly realistic (:

Because it is such a common topic, I think it's wonderful with all of the options for different things there is. Just as you mentioned, in terms of a character having a c-section, a parent leaving their partner and child. As these are very real things, I think it's interesting to spice it up somewhat, if that makes sense. Of course there is the possibility to say fx. that these two characters want a child, they conceive, the pregnancy and birth goes smoothly without any complications and everything is great; you can adjust however you and your partner would like. So if everything should just be rainbows and unicorns, you can do that; there is so many possibilities with adjusting multiple things however you and your partner would like to c:

That sounds like a great idea; in my own roleplays where two characters had a child together, it would usually be the player who played the mother of the child who would write for them or play them, in shorter bits (unless the parents had broken up or one of them was away, then it would be balanced as to which character physically spent time with the child).

I'm close to being speechless, because I cannot believe that somebody willingly has treated you so poorly. It doesn't sound like his character more or less just disappearing was a part of the plot (and from what I hve experienced and read, when two characters expect a child, they work the situation out and not just... Say 'I did my job, goodbye').

Your second experience sounds very unlucky as well, and it's not okay to treat somebody like that. I understand it can be difficult to work out, but I also applaud you for taking your character into consideration. I assume the roleplay was realistic to a degree, so having your character go back to her ex-husband who more or less forced her to get an abortion, sounds very traumatic.

I once had a roleplay where my character was in a somewhat toxic relationship and they kept breaking up, spending some weeks or a few months apart before then getting back together; it was like a cycle. At some point, because of so many things that had happened in the roleplay, I simply felt like I had to put my foot down and say stop; it would be too much for my character to keep being a part of this cycle because after all, the roleplay was very realistic.

I've actually had really positive experiences with rping pregnancy and kids for the most part. I had one character who got pregnant twice. We rped them meeting and getting together to the two pregnancies to living with their kids to the kids being all grown up and having their own adventures. It was really great. I had another where my character's partner's writer became involved with someone in real life. We were all actually friends in real life so I knew her and completely understood how it would be awkward if his and my characters were together in the over arching group rp. I wasn't fond of how he went about cutting off contact but it actually made for some great drama in character and we all eventually worked through it though there were a few hard feelings at first.

Funnily enough my first pregnancy rp was before I had ever actually been pregnant so I was mostly guessing as to how it feels due to second hand information. Though she did end up actually murdering the big bad while 8 months pregnant and on the verge of giving birth. All very epic. I'd actually be even more interested in doing it again now that I have been (and currently am) pregnant but understandably it needs the right partner, the right character and the right story. It's definitely not the sort of thing you add to an rp without discussing it thoroughly first.

One of my characters actually does come with a built in toddler as part of his deal. Adorable kids are a fun way to add emotion, levity and depth to what might otherwise be a more standard slice of life rp. (Or whatever type of rp you're running.) I've used young kids as npcs too (in one setting the hero's main hub was a small orphanage full of several small children that were fun to play around with).

I've read a couple these other responses and it saddens me that so many people have had bad experiences with this sort of story. It's such an interesting and complex part of many relationships (not all of course, and no judgement to any who choose not to part take in that part of life either in real life or rp). I just figured I'd throw my two cents in. I actually already have plans to add pregnancy to *at least* two of my current rps.

Although I don’t nescessarily like doing RPs with kids, I do have one of my characters have a child in one of my RPs. The one thing to be cautious about when RPimg small kids is to realize that IRL they are a lot of work and take up lots of attention, but it’s not fair to the other player in my opinion if the main focus is the kid and there is no development outside of the kids.

Once again, just my opinion from past experiences.

Aww hugs for that

I have only had one RP with pregnancy but several with children in them and I LOVE them. I do romance rp strictly 99% of the time and I usually plan for pregnancy to happen at some point and I put it in the LFRP that this is a plot point in their lives I want to explore. Unfortunately it has meant many people are not interested in RPing with me, but plenty of people are.

At the moment I have 3 rps where accidental pregnancy is going to happen in the near future, 2 where it's a possibility much later on, 3 where we've already had the couples talk about wanting children and planning, and 4-5 where they aren't far enough to have that discussion and they're not at a place where children would be a good idea for the RP. And I have... Several where my characters have children from past relationships and a couple characters that don't want children at all.

But I adore pregnancy/adoption and children in RP. I am a fan of realism, and most of my rps have very real life conflicts, topics, and go through all the life and relationship stages. Even if sometimes backwards, sideways and upside down hahaha!

It makes me sad that people are so hesitant, because I love it. I am honestly really excited for one of my characters to be pregnant or adopt because none are right now and I am craving that plot point and getting to write my characters (the ones who want children) experiencing that. I can definitely understand people not wanting to RP with children though for sure, I definitely don't want to have all my RP's have children at the exact same time, that'd certainly be rough.

So, definitely not judging anyone for not wanting to RP with children, I don't want children IRL so, I can relate on some level.

Edit: I want to add that I do ask the people I'm rping with how they'd feel about pregnancy just to see if they specificaly want to wait quite a while or if they'd be fine with it at any point.