Mpreg

Mpreg (short for male pregnancy) is a plot device in which men become pregnant. It occurs with some frequency in slash and very rarely in het. 
In these fanworks, the man who gets pregnant is usually human and cisgender. There is often no explanation for the phenomenon, although it may be explained by magic, medical experimentation, or simply the existence of an alternate universe where men are commonly pregnant. In some dystopian mpreg AUs, the role or status of males able to get pregnant may differ markedly from that of impregnating males. 
While there are a few mpreg fanworks from the 1980sOne example is Comfort, a 1983-84 Blake's 7 fic. Another example is The Third Alternative by Billie McIver, a 1983 Star Trek: TOS fic., it is a genre that was not generally addressed by fans until the mid-to late-1990s.A 2005 panel description at Escapade: "State of Slash Fandom Today (A long time ago, in what seems to be a galaxy far far away, slash fandom used to have taboos. You know, people didn't write chan or mpreg or even het. So how did slash fandom change?)"A fan in 1997 said: "I think my anti-kink along these lines is extreme sweetness and sappiness, or even not-so-extreme if it violates characterization
 and/or logic and sense. I've never seen male pregnancy done well enough not to violate both of these, and I'm not sure it could be." - a comment on Virgule-L by Shoshanna, quoted with permission (Dec 5, 1997)
Nowadays in fandom, Mpreg is most commonly found in fanworks written in the A/B/O universe, where male Omegas have the ability to become pregnant. "Mpreg" as a trope in isolation is increasingly rare in fanworks thanks to the popularity of A/B/O, but only because it tends to appear as part of that larger universe instead.
==Mpreg in Canon==
In canon, mpreg is often explained by alien biology. Alien Nation and Star Trek: Enterprise both have canonical male pregnancy, Torchwood has a reference to it as well, and in Farscape one of the alien male characters accidentally does much of the gestating of John and Aeryn's child.For further examples of Mpreg in books, movies, television and mythology, see Alchemia's Mainstream MPreg List, 13 June 2008. (Accessed 09 November 2008) 
In DC Comics canon Kon-El gets half his genes from Clark Kent and half from Lex Luthor. This leads to some Smallville Clex fic where he is the result of mpreg rather than laboratory experiments. Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs also have a genetic son together.
In Futurama, alien Kif becomes pregnant with cyclops Leela's children after touching her hand. However, as he shares a much deeper emotional connection with the human Amy, she is considered the "father" of his offspring. The babies (resembling tadpoles) are born and migrate to a river, set to return when they've become older.
In the manga series Patalliro, the bishounen Mariach becomes pregnant with his lover Bancoran's children. The first instance ends with a miscarriage, the second sees him successfully give birth to their son.Patalliro volume 46, chapter 202
In the cartoon series Fairly Odd Parents, it's revealed that the male fairy becomes pregnant with the child. One of the main characters, Cosmo, successfully gives birth to his son, Poof.
==A Polarizing Genre==
For non-fans, mpreg, like omegaverse, is an easy topic of derision. Social media and mainstream journalism lights up on the subject, poking fun and claiming outraged amazement.
Mpreg is a rather polarizing genre even within fandom: Whereas some fans really like it, many fans go out of their way to avoid it, and relatively few fans are indifferent to it. 
==Sexism, Transgender Issues== 
The topic of mpreg intersects with not only sexism but also transgender issues. Many trans fans have written about this at length:
A fan in 2015 wrote: 
A fan in 2015 wrote: 
Some fans have taken to utilizing the tags #tmpreg (trans male pregnancy) and #cmpreg (cis male pregnancy) to distinguish the content they create.
==Fan Comments==
===1994===
 
===2001===
===2011===
==Fempreg==
Fempreg refers not to all stories in which women are pregnant, but to stories in which conception is due to f/f sex. It is almost vanishingly rare and would probably not have a name if it were not for mpreg's popularity. Xena: Warrior Princess has a rare example of canonical fempreg with Callisto's ghost impregnating Xena. 
Another example of canonical fempreg occurs in Kotobuki Tarako's mostly mpreg-filled manga Sex Pistols (published in English language as Love Pistols). Madarame Makio, a female character, has given birth to two sons by two different fathers and has also sired two more sons with her female partner Tokashiki Karen.
Fandoms with heavy magical elements such as Sailor Moon, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, or Fire Emblem allow f/f pairings to conceive children through spells; these spells may or may not temporarily change the anatomy of one partner. One particular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic Out in the Cold has Trixie bearing Twilight Sparkle's foal via a spell that transforms Twilight into a stallion.
==Examples of Mpreg in Fanworks==
===Some of the Earliest Examples===
* A Corellian Condition by C.A. Siebert, a Star Wars story in which Han Solo becomes pregnant (1980)
* The Third Alternative by Billie McIver, a Star Trek: TOS story in which Kirk wants to have a child so he talks Spock into letting McCoy do the procedure that will allow Kirk to carry one. This fanwork appears in The Voice #2 (1983)
* Comfort, a Blake's 7 story in which Vila Restal has Kerr Avon's baby (1983-4)
* by Tounge N. Chicque (1994)
===Stories===
*Life from the Ashes -- early, long, OTT X-Files AU with Mulder mutated to have sex in his belly-button and frequently pregnant. (Written in 2000.)
*MisconceptionsDiana Williams. Misconceptions by Diana Williams -- early, long (60 parts) Highlander AU with Methos becoming pregnant. As Immortals are normally incapable of bearing children, a lot of stories in the fandom tried to figure out ways to give the Immortals children. Sometimes a threesome was required, sometimes the Immortal had to be over several thousand years old, and sometimes...well, things happened. (Started sometime in 2001.)
*The Seahorse story: Clutch, Incubate, Hatch, and *Nest by Betty Plotnick, a popslash series where Justin Timberlake gets knocked up and lays eggs. (2003)
*MPREG by Rhys -- a popslash story where men-who-have-children are a group even more unusual than overpaid popstars. (Trickyfish, 2004)
*Practicing the Same Religion by Geoviki. Mpreg is a common Harry Potter trope. "Classic Harry/Draco Mpreg. It's the fic that everyone says, 'I don't usually like/read Mpreg BUT… loved this story!'"crack_broom: Harry/Draco -Practicing the Same Religion by geoviki (accessed 15 July 2013) (2005)
*I Put a Spell on You (Because You're Mine) a Supernatural story by estrella30. She describes it as "schmoopy mpreg-wingfic-incest fic", or in other words, a deliberate attempt to write crackfic and still make people like it. (2006)
*Things That Change by eutychides/Ociwen/reposoir. One of the most influential, controversial and popular early Drarry mpreg fics. The author posted it under a pseudonym in an LiveJournal account they created solely for the fic, to avoid "the stigmatization of mpreg". Author's Notes. (2006)
* Bric-a-brac series by Lenore-- a surprisingly popular SGA series that may have made mpreg more respectable to fans.
*Roo'verse by Tzzzz, an SGA mpreg which is unusual in that the biology of the men being able to become pregnant (a subtype of humans attributed to Ancient experimentation) is that of a marsupial, so the pregnancy does not resemble a regular human pregnancy. Tzzzz. Roo'verse (accessed 15 Dec 2009) (2009)
*Side Effects by Jane Elliot. SGA story in which, in a relatively rare plot-turnMpreg#Mpreg_Meta, the pregnant man chooses to terminate the pregnancy. (2008)
*Surrogate by Seekergeek. SGA story in which John chooses to use a device to become pregnant with Rodney's child because Rodney can't otherwise have a child like he wanted. (2009)
* For Her For Him by nomdeplume1313. A Fullmetal Alchemist story which the author calls "my best attempt at a plausible MPreg". Involves an explanation of how Edward's transmutation removed his appendix and gallbladder in exchange for growing a "mock uterus". 
* Having My Baby by sparkinside. A Hanson and One Direction crossover fic in which Harry Styles is pregnant by Zac Hanson. 
* Hippocampus by Micah Loden, a Sentinel crackfic gen mpreg that includes the line, "Would I do something like that, Jim? I mean, play around with something as serious as pregnancy, childbirth and gender? That would be messing with some pretty heavy karma."
There has been a resurgence of mpreg stories in Star Trek reboot fandom, with the LJ kirkspock community, alone, recording over 30 storiesmpreg trope tag for stories posted to the LJ kirkspock community featuring this trope in the year following the release of the movie. It is likely to be the setting that has caused this upswing in popularity, with a number of writers explaining away the process as either alien biology, or through the use of futuristic technology and medicine. Unexpected by ceres_libera (following genderswap from alien intervention) Kirk/McCoy After It All by slash4femme (genetics, test tube baby + artificial womb) Spock!Prime/McCoy 
Mpreg is not an uncommon trope in Naruto fandom, aided in part by the existence in canon of jutsu such as Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. Some examples from the KakaIru pairing include: megyal's A Measure of Company (with fanart by jofelly), Kita the Spaz's Mission's Gift, and Side Effects, an early example from ChibiRisu-chan.
There are a number of mpreg fanworks featuring Loki of Marvel Cinematic Universe, as in Norse mythology Loki canonically gave birth to a horse, and in comics canon took a female body for a time.
There are also a number of mpreg fanworks featuring Bucky Barnes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, usually explained as Hydra doing more to Bucky than adding the metal arm. Two of the best examples are The Simple Life by howler32557038 and The New Hole by thefilthiestpiglet.
Mpreg is popular in Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom due to the existence of alien biology; Keith and Lotor are the most commonly featured as pregnant, but some fics have Shiro able to carry children thanks to additional experiments and enhancements by the Galra during his captivity. Trans male Keith becoming pregnant is also a common trope.
=== Vids===
*Papa Don't Preach by eunice & greensilver -- a constructed reality Torchwood/Doctor Who vid.
*I Swear by dualbunny, sweetestdrain, and greensilver. Smallville with a bit of Batverse vid.
* Out Loud- Supernatural: Destiel AU where Dean is pregnant from Cas
*Time after time - Supernatural: Wincest AU where Dean is pregnant from Sam
===Art===
File:Galactic3art4.jpg|A very early example, (perhaps the first?) of mpreg art, from the 1980 Star Trek: TOS zine Galactic Discourse #3, artist Linda White. "Bones, would you come to my cabin please? I think it's time you learned the truth about Setarcos." It is a riff on the story Beyond Setarcos
File:Pregnant Kirk.jpg|art by Jou. Pregnant!Kirk from the Inheritance Series. The caption reads: Jim is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He feels like crap and has to wear XXL uniforms to uh... accommodate his condition.
File:Soulquest7.jpg|pregnant elf!Blair manip from Soul Quest #7
File:SQ2.jpg|In Soul Quest #2, Blair is pregnant (and an elf!). Art by Lorraine Brevig
File:Britwitmpreg.jpg|cartoon by Karen Eaton from BritWit #3, portrays characters from The Professionals
File:Lillithium-Drarry-mpreg.jpg|Harry/Draco mpreg by Lillithium, for the 2007 H/D Inspired mpreg fest 
*The Baby Is You, Homestuck parody musical
== Meta/Further Reading==
===2001===
* Sexy Pregnant Men? ("Even if it's tongue in cheek, and even if it's intended to be parody, it's still just so out there that I can't grasp it.")
===2003===
* Slash rant, part 17016. by Alara Rogers ("Personally I find the notion of a male body with a baby inside it squicky as hell, but you genderswap the guy and *then* make him pregnant and I'd be happy to read your fic.") (August 2003)
* by djinanna (December 2003)
===2005===
* by Mistress Marilyn (2005)
===2006===
* a beautiful lifetime event - mpreg and slash, discussion at Fanthropology (February 2006) title of post is from A Beautiful Lifetime Event, a Stargate Atlantis fic 
===2009===
*, by Tzzzz, 05 December 2009. (Accessed 15 December 2009)
===2011===
* by Jane Elliot, 1 January 2011. (Accessed 8 April 2011)
===2012===
* Slashcast: Pimp My Fandom: Mpreg by Kriken and wook77 at Slashcast, May 27, 2012
* Daily Rant: Why I hate Omegaverse/MPREG by sherlockholmes, October 31, 2012
===2013===
* The 31 Most Important Pregnant Men Of 2013, by Katie Notopoulous on Buzzfeed. Includes manips of Nicolas Cage, Justin Bieber, Beetlejuice, Mario & Luigi, Wincest, Larry Stylinson, and others.
===2014===
* 14 Questions About Mpreg You Were Too Embarrassed To Ask, by Katie Notopoulous on Buzzfeed. Links to many fanworks, including 1D Mpreg Stories on Tumblr, many works on DeviantArt, and Genesis, although the latter does not actually contain any mpreg.
* "Mpreg", thread in Fail Fandomanon post No. 123 - started 27 December 2014 - discussion of appeal
* What Exactly Is Mpreg? A Male Pregnancy Enthusiast Explains by Mark Schrayber on Jezebel. The piece links to Larry Stylinson fanfiction If We Knew by sweetwinterbabe.
===2015===
*MPREG: Why do we like the thing?!
==Resources==
*MPREG - The Male Pregnancy Emporium - old archive, masterlist
*Mpreg Archive Mpreg Archive site
* Mpreg Archive and its related Mpreg Mailing List (The Mailing List was founded March 16, 2001. The Mailing List was maintained by BB and Purplewaterlili.)
*The Mpreg Archive Forum
*Mpreg tag at Archive of Our Own
*Supernatural Sam/Dean mpreg masterlist
*RPS Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles mpreg masterlist
* hpprego, a Harry Potter mpreg community
* Merlin Mpreg, a Merlin mpreg community
*Mpreg themed list for Harry Potter, by painless_j
*Luna K's Mpreg Fic Recs for Bandom
* a list of Star Trek Mpreg fiction: Accioslash: Extreme Snarry Hoarder on Insane Journal
*The MPREG Big Bang
==Notes==
==References==
✪ This article was featured on the Fanlore main page in 2019How To & About
*About Featured Articles
*How to Nominate
Past Featured Articles
*2024
*2023
*2022
*2021
*2020
*2019
*2018
*2017
Featured Article Nominations
*2024
*2023
*2022
*2021
*2020
*2019
*2018
*2017
Category:2019 Featured Articles
Category:Glossary
Category:Pregnancy and Parenting Tropes
Category:2019 Featured Articles