History Main / MandatoryMotherhood

* 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 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.)

->''"Woman's greatest duty is to produce a son."''
-->--'''Ancient [[{{Confucius}} Neo-Confucian]] [[http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/TWR-04.html proverb]]

* Discussed in the ''ForBetterOrForWorse'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheNewRetcons'', where Elly Patterson highly resents her brother and sister-in-law for not wanting children and deciding to have them. She herself did not want kids but felt that she had to have them anyway. This was also why she lied and told everyone Georgia was infertile, cause to her that was the only 'acceptable' reason to avoid motherhood.

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* In ''ElfQuest'', nature decides when two elves are ready to have a child, and the elves aren't allowed to protest. This turns into a MateOrDie situation for several elves, most prominently Dewshine, who ''hates'' the mate that was chosen for her by destiny. But since BabiesMakeEverythingBetter, she loves her child regardless.
** 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. The Go-Backs, on the other hand, have an amazingly short lifespan because of their warring with trolls and living in harsh conditions and breed like any other mammals; when the Wolfriders mention Recognition, Kahvi is surprised that they still bother with that. As with [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality most things, the Wolfriders have the ideal balance]], as they reproduce often enough to maintain a cycle of life and death, but still have Recognition and only breed genetically superior children. (Except for Pike).

* Katniss Everdeen in ''TheHungerGames'' ''really'' doesn't want to get married and have children, mainly because she's petrified of the thought of being a mother whose children end up draw in the reaping. In ''Catching Fire'' she is horrified when she realizes that [[spoiler:President Snow is likely to insist that she and Peeta have children and that those children will probably end up in the Games due to rigged reapings.]]

Maybe there's a problem in the HeirClubForMen and she doesn't want to be involved but, since she's married to the fella needing the heir, she can't readily escape it. Or she's in a society that's gone through a [[ApocalypseHow class-2 apocalypse]], which is urging every fertile woman to repopulate the species; but she has desires or concerns more important to her than [[SpeciesLoyalty the species]].

* Katniss Everdeen in ''TheHungerGames'' really doesn't want to get married and have children, mainly because she's petrified of the thought of being a mother whose children end up draw in the reaping. In ''Catching Fire'' she is horrified when she realizes that [[spoiler:President Snow is likely to insist that she and Peeta have children and that those children will probably end up in the Games due to rigged reapings.]]

* LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' 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.
** Barrayar is still somewhat underpopulated even during Miles's young adulthood, and as his mother points out, traditionally the planet has had to struggle to maintain, let alone increase, its population. Plus the Vor are aristocracy, so it literally ''is'' mandatory for both men and women to have children if they want their line to continue. It's pretty much ingrained in the entire planet's society.
** 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.
*** On the other hand, the uterine replicator itself is an instrument of sexual empowerment. It's noted that the Traditionalist political party won't be able to shove the new Empress into a maternity ward; she can breed and heir and still be a dominant force in the politics of the empire. Lady Vorkosigan herself has a fierce devotion to the galactic reproductive technology itself as a delayed action social time bomb; a few decades of gender selection of offspring results in an acute shortage of eligible brides, and the girls and their families are able to pick and choose from the bachelors available. A man expecting the traditional child gestation that left Miles himself teratogenically crippled finds it night impossible to get hitched. It should also be pointed out that Cordelia Vorkosigan was born and raised on Beta Colony, where children are precious commodities requiring a license for even a single offspring; Cordelia's displays of genetic greed have less to do with Barrayar than with Beta Colony.

* The ''Series/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.
** What happens if you refuse? Some extremely UnfortunateImplications, there.
*** The society is portrayed as level headed and moral, as well as pragmatic so it's probably meant to be an unrealistic idea that the issue would be ''forced''. However in reality, who knows what could happen in such a situation.

* 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. Twice.
** To be fair, she didn't intend to sleep with him the first time- she'd broken her arm and was using alcohol as a painkiller since it was all they had. Unfortunately, it was stronger than she'd thought.

** Onan was killed by God for refusing to have a child with Tamar, his dead brother's wife, as per the laws of levirate marriage. Of course, he told her he ''would'' and then performed ''coitus interruptus'' to prevent it, so he was arguably sort of an AssholeVictim.

* The first 17 of {{Shakespeare}}'s sonnets revolve around persuading a man that this applies to him.

* In PatriciaAMcKillip's ''The Bell At Sealey Head'', Ysabo is told the reason she must submit to the ArrangedMarriage is to have a child; her mother and grandmother are baffled by her resistance, since she must have one.

* In TheBible, mankind is ordered to "be fruitful and multiply," which has traditionally been seen as a command to have children if at all possible. The Patriarchs and Matriarchs, for example, went through a lot knowing that God's plans relied on them producing the Jewish people, as did Moses' parents in the wake of Pharaoh's decree.

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* In ''{{Sinfest}}'',

* In ''{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2912 Monique's body tries to argue with her.]]

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

* ''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.