History Main / MandatoryMotherhood

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* Fiona in the ''MetamorCity'' novel ''[[http://www.metamorcity.com Making the Cut]]'', who gets forced into a breeding cell only because she's female, and it's made clear that anything other than birthing her own babies someday is not going to be acceptable to the [[PsychicPowers Psi]] Collective.

** This trope actually gets twisted -- nature seems to consider genetics ''and'' population when deciding which two elves are to reproduce. The Skyriders, for example, have an ''inversion'' forced upon them: none of them had been able to conceive [[spoiler:aside from Winnowill via magic]] in centuries, despite very much wanting to have children among them.

* Alluded to in Terry Pratchett's [[Nation]]- it's not clear exactly how old Daphne is, but her own culture certainly considers her a child; the people of the Nation, however, have pretty much a response of 'what do you mean you've not had a kid yet?'

* While not strictly mandated, the Quarian race of aliens in ''MassEffect'', forced to live on an enormous fleet of mostly hand-me-down starships after having been exiled from their homeworld by their own robotic creations, will sometimes institute incentives for couples to have children. And sometimes the Quarians discourage this instead, depending on which way the fragile birth rate is leaning.
** Actually the encouragement to have children is the ''exception'' to the usual "One Child Only" rule.
** Its more complicated then that the Quarian Flotilla will ocassionally be put into a state of overpopulation so they have incentives to have fewer children and when they are underpopulated they will start giving things like tax breaks and other rewards to people who have multiple children. Fewer births is the norm though.

* This is ubiquitous in {{Shipping}} fic. The happy couple ''will'' have kids, even if neither of them would ever want them in their canon personality and [[MisterSeahorse even if neither of them has a womb.]] There's no such thing as contraception, and miscarriages only happen when DeusAngstMachina decrees it. And if abortion exists, we're generally treated to a tedious speech about how GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion - sometimes right away, sometimes after a few equally tedious scenes where they pretend to consider it. If the character isn't a "good girl" to begin with, she generally becomes one in short order thanks to DeliverUsFromEvil.
** A FandomSpecificPlot for ''HarryPotter'' is the "Marriage Law fic," where the Ministry passes a law saying that every available Pureblood and Muggle-born have to get married and produce a child within x number of years. Generally used just to force Hermione with whichever Pureblood that you prefer. (Though [[DieForOurShip for some reason]] her [[OfficialCouple official]] LoveInterest [[RonTheDeathEater Ron]] [[FridgeLogic is never chosen]].)

* ''NineteenEightyFour''. Made hard for the protagonist as you must not derive pleasure from it and the women are literally trained to [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland lie back and think of the party.]] Artificial insemination (or artsem in NewSpeak) is recommended.
* Camilla in ''{{Darkover}} Landfall'': After being stuck on a LostColony, she gets pregnant thanks to AppliedPhlebotinum and can't talk the doctor into giving her an abortion. She goes on to have a brood of children, and she doesn't seem to be happy about it. [[HeirClubForMen This ends up being a policy for all Darkovan women (particularly the Comyn).]] Later, Rohana Ardais also admits that she never wanted children, but had to have them.

* Roger and Cecilia Checkerfield from TheCompanyNovels didn't want kids, and Roger got a vasectomy. Too bad that Roger was employed by Dr. Zeus, who forced him to adopt one of their scientific projects as his own son.

* ''TheIronStar'' has a thief who does ''not'' want to be a housewife or a mother or any kind of family woman. A Goddess overrules her (but the [[ArrangedMarriage husband the goddess chose for her]] agrees to make life luxurious for her.)
* The DoctorWho novel ''The Eyeless'' takes place on a world where 99% of the population has been wiped out. The couple of hundred remaining survivors have worked out a plan for how many children each women must have in order for the species to survive long term -and the loss of just a few children or potential parents could be devastating. The repopulation attempt is presented as an unfair, but necessary process, as it really ''is'' the only way their race is going to stay alive. At least one of the main characters, Alsa, is understandably upset about it, and her unwillingness to be a birthing machine for the rest of her life shows.
* The {{Warrior Cats}} don't often touch on this but in Bluestar's Prophecy, the title character is good with kits and raises her nephew after her sister's death but has no interest in having any of her own. [[spoiler: although it doesn't work out this way in the end]] Naturally one of the Clan elders tells her she needs to 'live her own life' now that her sister's son is grown. [[SarcasmMode Because in order to live your own life, you have to have and raise children.]]
* Lois McMaster Bujold's {{Vorkosigan}} series has a particularly odd one. While there was always an element of MandatoryMotherhood for Vor women, it was nevertheless understood and frequently referenced that many women might not want to have children, if only because, given the levels of technology available, it was a life-threatening risk every time. With the introduction of the uterine replicator into Barrayaran society, however, the concept of a woman who doesn't want children is erased, because the culturally acceptable 'excuse' for it is no longer valid.

** True, but prior to the introduction of the uterine replicator a cultural space existed in which it was possible for a woman to acknowledge not ''wanting'' children, if only for the reason of pregnancy being dangerous to life and health - even if she couldn't get out of actually having them. With the introduction of a technology intended to improve women's health and reproductive freedom, that space was erased, making MandatoryMotherhood even more present - and insidiously so - in Barrayaran culture.

** King Hezekiah was struck with illness for not marrying and having kids, even though he had a good reason--he knew prophetically that one of his descendants would be evil. The prophet Isaiah told him he was obligated to have kids anyway, since one is supposed to obey God's commands while acknowledging that He is always in control of its ultimate outcome.

* Fiona in the MetamorCity novel [[http://www.metamorcity.com ''Making the Cut'']], who gets forced into a breeding cell only because she's female, and it's made clear that anything other than birthing her own babies someday is not going to be acceptable to the [[PsychicPowers Psi]] Collective.

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* Subverted in Ursula Vernon's ''BlackDogs'', where a character is raped for the sake of producing a powerful heir, but she aborts the zygote and to ensure that it never happens again she sterilizes herself.

[[folder:Film]]
* {{Shrek}} was very much in favor of never having children; as shown in the third film of the franchise, he was afraid of being as terrible a father as his own father had been. He never shares his misgivings with Fiona, however, and turns out to be a really good father to his triplets.
[[/folder]]

* Kris in the ''Freedom'' series by AnneMcCaffrey. Another LostColony situation in which everyone has to breed. But Kris is involved in an InterspeciesRomance and is apathetic on having kids (and definitely against cheating), even if her alien boyfriend doesn't mind. Solution: uncharacteristic [[DrowningMySorrows drinking to the point of ''blacking out'' and having sex with other humans.]] [[WhosYourDaddy Twice.]]
* In the ''LiadenUniverse'' books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, everyone is required to have one temporary ArrangedMarriage and produce a child to be their heir, to whom he or she is a [[ParentalAbandonment legal single parent]]. They can foster the kid to be raised by someone else, but Everyone. Must. Have. One. (The Liadens nearly went extinct due to a PlanetEater species.)

* Technically not an example of childfreedom (eventually they are okay with the child, if not the conception), but Lucia and Ben of ''Devil's Due'' would have liked to have officially started dating and having sex on their own recognizance and then decided for themselves, rather than having her be kidnapped while she's passed out due to anthrax poisoning and scientifically raped/artificially inseminated with Ben's sperm by the Cross Society.

* Lois McMaster Bujold's {{Vorkosigan}} series has a particularly odd one. While there was always an element of MandatoryMotherhood for Vor women, it was nevertheless understood and frequently referenced that many women might not want to have children, if only because, given the levels of technology available, it was a life-threatening risk every time. With the introduction of the uterine replicator into Barrayaran society, however, the concept of a woman who doesn't want children is erased, because the culturally (or authorially?) acceptable 'excuse' for it is no longer valid.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Gabrielle on ''DesperateHousewives''. She's RaisedCatholic, so she can't have an abortion (but can have a ConvenientMiscarriage).
** Recently, [[WordOfGod Word of God]] said about Lynette's recent unplanned pregnancy that [[ExecutiveMeddling the network would never allow him to write an abortion storyline on the show,]] but casually mentioned that you ''can'' have a [[ConvenientMiscarriage miscarriage.]]
[[/folder]]

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', Terrestrials are strongly encouraged to marry and have babies regardless of sexual orientation, since theirs is the only sort of Exaltation that's hereditary.

** Its more complicated then that the Quarian Flotilla will ocassionally be put into a state of overpopulation so they have incentives to have fewer children and when they are underpopulated they will start giving things like tax breaks and other rewards to people who have multiple children. Fewer berths is the norm though.

* [[DichterUndDenker German philosopher]] Oswald Spengler claimed in his non-fiction book ''{{The Decline of the West}}'' that people who marry (if at all) to find a SoulMate but not to have children are decadent.

!!Examples

* NineteenEightyFour. Made hard for the protagonist as you must not derive pleasure from it and the women are literally trained to [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland lie back and think of the party.]] Artificial insemination (or artsem in NewSpeak) is recommended.

* TheIronStar has a thief who does ''not'' want to be a housewife or a mother or any kind of family woman. A Goddess overrules her (but the [[ArrangedMarriage husband the goddess chose for her]] agrees to make life luxurious for her.)

<<|ParentalIssues|>>
<<|TheParentTrope|>>

* Fiona in the [[http://www.metamorcity.com ''Metamor City'']] novel ''Making the Cut'', who gets forced into a breeding cell only because she's female, and it's made clear that anything other than birthing her own babies someday is not going to be acceptable to the [[PsychicPowers Psi]] Collective.

* The SoBadItsHorrible garbage that is ''Four Christmases'' starts off with a couple who are refreshingly free from the cloying, boring Hollywood tropes. They spend Christmas doing what they want to do rather than spending time with their lousy dysfunctional families, they don't want to waste time and ruin their lives by having kids as they're both young and enjoying themselves and they don't want to bother with all that marriage junk. By films end ALL of that has changed and they've had their first child. Because, of course, they have to "Learn a lesson". In this case, you can't be happy unless you've got a man and a baby. (Eyeroll)

Contrast ConvenientMiscarriage.

* GreysAnatomy. God forbid Callie and Arizona break up over this issue, Arizona has to be converted first. Though otherwise the show is pretty anti-child.

--> ''"Tell me --- Has there ever been a film where a character was expressed a reluctance to have children, or didn't particularly care for them, and then was permitted simply to hold to their opinion? At any rate, I’m pretty certain that no character in a PG-13 summer blockbuster ever was. So if you are such a character, and you do express such a reluctance, rest assured that by the end of the film, you will have been taught the error of your ways. With extreme prejudice."''
-->-- ''' Elizabeth A. Kingsley''', on [[http://www.aycyas.com/jurassicpark.htm And You Call Yourself A Scientist]], in her review of ''JurassicPark''.

* This is ubiquitous in {{Shipping}} fic. The happy couple ''will'' have kids, even if neither of them would ever want them in their canon personality and [[MisterSeahorse even if neither of them has a womb.]] There's no such thing as contraception or abortion, and miscarriages only happen when DeusAngstMachina decrees it.
** Oh, abortion exists. In such works, we're generally treated to a tedious speech about how GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion - sometimes right away, sometimes after a few equally tedious scenes where they pretend to consider it. If the character isn't a "good girl" to begin with, she generally becomes one in short order thanks to DeliverUsFromEvil.

* One of the reasons Anthony is so despised in the ''ForBetterOrForWorse'' fandom is the [[UnfortunateImplications implied subtext]] that it was he who pressured his wife Therese into having a child that she didn't want by agreeing to be the primary care-giver, then reneging on the agreement just as Therese was going through postpartum depression. We are explicitly meant to see Therese as an unnatural monster for not wanting children in the first place (to the point where she wholesale abandons child, husband and all not much later) and Anthony as the poor put-upon hubby who 'tries to love' his wife despite her refusal to make them a 'real family'.

Making the page to move the discussion. Please don't cutlist this.