It's interesting to read some stories on this site when they touch upon the topic of pregnancy. When the topic comes up the characters automatically assume they have to have sex with a guy and don't seem to ever even consider an alternative option. I don't think I've yet read a story that has mentioned in vitro pregnancy. I'm curious as to why that is? The characters never even seem to give a thought to the fact artificial insemination exists even though its been around for quite some time. So I wonder if its more just for a plot device or lack of knowledge in general? It seems like a pretty obvious thing to consider rather than just jumping to the conclusion that the only way to get pregnant is to sleep with a guy. I definitely noticed this in Fresh Start for example whenever they discuss the fact that Jirra can get pregnant, not once is in vitro mentioned. Overlooking such a thing seems to be a pretty significant flaw.
Is it the age of the story? Well possibly but again in vitro has been around for decades... its the entire reason why sperm banks exist.
So maybe some one can help answer why this seems to be? That or maybe most stories do mention it but I am just not reading those ones.
Oh!
May I ask which stories you are talking about?
I blame ...
sex and our addiction to it. Yes in vitro probably should be done more in stories, but it is not very sexy to write about it.
Sex sales as they say. Or gets you reads. Accidental or forced pregnancy is a fetish some have. That is way harder to do with in vitro.
This results in pushing in vitro more to the character-driven stories. While in vitro would be probably a good alternative, here adoption can point by being quick. It means that it can be written faster in detail than in vitro. As writers often tend to streamline their stories less important facts fall aside. Like evaluating alternative options.
At least that is my humble opinion.
With love,
Cassy
I remember
a story I think I read it here at BCTS, though I cannot remember the author or title.
The wife medically becomes unable to bear or carry a child to term.
Hubby for his love of her becomes (by magic I think) a duplicate of her but is pregnant with a child that is genetically their child.
also Terry Volkirch (terrynaut)'s "Return of the Queen"
Uses science as an aid for pregnancy, though that is towards the end of the story.
Though when some forms of magic are involved, it is usually ancient fertility magic and the spells were devised long before there was medicine let alone technology, thus the right by default would need a male-female relationship.
It was
That Bikini Beach story Ef.
Thanks
There are examples
of IVF but they are rare.
I have one story bubbing away in my mind that will include IVF. Not sure when (or if) it will surface.
Samantha
Pretty sure
I'm pretty sure there is a story here where someone became pregnant by IVF using their own pre-transformation sperm. Can't think of the name of it.
As to why it isn't used more often, it's not sexy, it's seldom dramatic, and it needs a particular narrow sort of story arc for it to make sense. Fictionwise, it is unlikely to happen. If you think our genre is lacking in it, check out mainstream women's romance where it is just about as rare as here and general mainstream fiction, where it is probably rarer!
Story-mechanic-wise, it's almost like looking for stories that feature pasta al dente. Yeah, there are some but as a piece of drama, IVF is too frequently a limp noodle. So to speak. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Please don't put silly ideas into my head!
No I'm not going to write that one but is was close call
More common here
It seems to me that, the saving of sperm before transition (implying IVF) is more common here than in other fiction. The example that comes to mind is Anita (Ch 16) because it is very recent.
IVF is the most natural way
when talking about transwomen. I can hardly imagine TG person's position in the sex act with a man or on the other hand with a woman for one of them to get pregnant.
Is Everybody Sure
They're not confusing in vitro fertilization with artificial insemination? In vitro means in glass. It's a complicated process where the mother has to take fertility drugs to cause multiple ovulations, then a number off eggs are extracted then exposed to sperm to have a good chance of at least one fertilized egg.
I think artificial insemination works about as well as normal copulation. It's the turkey baster method; much cheaper and faster used with stored sperm. In vitro is used if the fallopian tubes are damaged, like with severe endometriosis or if the tract mucous becomes too thick, sometime an effect of the fertility drugs. Also used, of course, if the egg is donated.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
There is a difference
You are correct that there is a difference but both are artificial. The methods and reasons for using them do vary however. For example a magically transformed or technoligically transformed girl who can give birth but doesnt want anything up there could go for in vitro. While another who just doesnt want a male appendage involved can go with insemination. I understand the differences but since both are artifical and end up with the woman becoming pregnant I just dont put to much wieght in their classification. That is until it becomes necessary to discuss the differences
IVF Is the Bunk
I have it on rather good faith that IVF is the work of Satan. As the priest said whose speech I watched on Youtube, "Anything that starts with masturbation can't be good."
Then again, I have two grandchildren due to IVF and think they're the best thing in my life. My daughter-in-law is a graduate of Yale Med and she had ruled out any other possible means of pregnancy.
If the priest is right, then God didn't want me to have grandchildren and what would I do with all the toys and coloring books?
I think the priest was full of . . .. Which seems to be a common situation for priest nowadays.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Trans-Pregnancy
As much as I wish it weren't so, you pretty much have to be XX female to carry a baby. Lots of intersex folk who choose to live as women still don't have all the "stuff". And, sadly there are women who are actually XY but have AIS. (Meaning that their male genes do not have the proper testosterone receptors to masculinize the body.) :(
So, factually, a T woman can not likely ever carry a baby because we do not have the right stuff. Most importantly, we do not have a baby basket (Uterus). Also, we do not have the widened and tilted pelvis, with the open birth canal, and flexible cartilage that allows the pelvis to open up, (ouch) to let the baby out. I've substantial medical background having helped my X to get through medical school and it is clear to me that being a woman is also a whole hormonal nightmare, and it is doubtful to me that any XY person could like "take it". Gad zooks, the estrogen was hard enough!
I've been at this living as a woman thing for almost a decade and a half, and really, truthfully tried oh so hard to put the hat on and keep it ON. It's only just begun to sink into my consciousness that being a woman is oh so much more than a power skirt suit and the operation. Oddly, I am in a culture where the other, real, women accept me, and it is a straight up shock how much there is to know. Vaginal maintenance is only the tip of the iceberg.
So in answer to your query, it seems likely that most T authors are fairly clueless about what it takes to carry a baby. It is doubtful to me that any of us MtF folk will ever find out too.
As to IVF, I do not believe that has actually occurred. I am aware that AI is routinely done in cows and horses. Now it is happening in women, but that still means that the child must be carried in a live woman's womb. I know of no pregnancies that have been successful outside of that.