MPregs

[kanshu]

MPregs are "Male Pregnancies".

MPregs explore the possibility of making a character experience pregnancy and 'motherhood' who, by standard biological setup, usually would not be able to give birth to a child (namely: a guy. )

It's a popular plot device in Boy's Love / Slash fandom.

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I have a few questions, maybe you can help me out:

- What are your thoughts on MPregs? Hate it, like it, ever read it?
- Are certain characters predestined for MPRegs? Why?
- What are things one needs to keep in mind when writing MPregs?
- What are absolute nonos when writing MPRegs?
- What makes MPregs so fascinating for some people? What makes them so repelling for some people?

[lazy karot]

^^;; Well, all I can really say on the subject is that I find them absolutely fuggin' hilarious. I wouldn't touch 'em with a ten foot pole except to parody 'em.

But I think probably one of the allures, psychologically, of an MPreg is getting a guy to -really- understand what girls go through. It can serve to knock a really arrogant character down a few pegs, bring out the caring side of another character (to later be slashed with said MPreg if they aren't already), or make really, really pretty babies. Then, of course, the MPreg is the same thing as the canon sue, in concept. It's getting a guy to be the ideal man by understanding the female condition.

Least, that's how I see it. But I don't really read/do MPreg so there's probably a fanbase far more knowledgeable about it. Ehh.

[Me-Nuriko]

Mpreg... *shudder*
I don't know, I can deal with a lot of impossibilities in stories, but no, I can't deal with pregnant men.

During a short period of time when I out of curiosity read almost everything to get an understanding for different genres and so on, I read a couple of Mpreg stories, one with Goku being pregnant with a reincarnation of Sanzo, and one with Hakkai as the 'mother', (Gojyo the 'father'). That's enough for me. I won't read anymore mpreg stories, unless it's a parody.

Predestined for Mpregs? No, I don't think so. A girl who wants to see her favorite character pregnant writes him so, whatever kind of guy he is. One would believe that it's the 'uke' guys that will be pregnant in the stories, but it doesn't seem to matter for the writer. I just don't know what's going on in those writers heads. (Sorry, hope I'm not offending anyone here.^^;; )

[Ganheim]

OptiMoose said:

- What are your thoughts on Male Pregnancies? Hate it, like it, ever read it? Personally, I hate the idea. I don't even like non-canon writing, and "MPegs" requires that I ignore the vast amount of physiological impossibilities.

- Are certain characters predestined for MPRegs? Why? Nope, I don't think so.

- What are things one needs to keep in mind when writing MPregs? Um ... don't? Again, a male is not physiologically equipped. A child can not be fertilized, gestate, or be born from a male. I admit I've seen the idea in parodies, that was where I was first exposed to it, but I don't think it was even done well in any of those and I never bothered to finish the 3 or so parody stories based on this concept. I suppose that the first barrier to my ever accepting this concept is the physical imposibilities.

- What are absolute nonos when writing MPRegs? The parodies I saw really ignored a lot of the physiological/biochemical effects of pregnancy, and the blatant lack of research was something that really ticked me off, because I knew that at least some of the mistakes made were common knowledge. And on the other side of the coin is ignoring the psychological effects - I don't think a single one of the stories I've seen, and probably none of the ones you've seen - have ever dealt with the issue properly. First of all, the fact that a physical impossibility is occuring. Then there's the biochemical effects. I may have been a little kid when my mother was pregnant with my sibling, but I remember mood swings, which I later learned was caused by chemical imbalances, some of which aren't possible because of the different construction of the glands in male and females.

- What makes MPregs so fascinating for some people? What makes them so repelling for some people? I think the reason it's so appealing to some people is the same reason as the "canon sue". The authors have an odd idea and twist the story to fit what they want, without first stopping to think about whether the idea fits the base story.
As for why it's so repelling for me, I can't set aside the physiological / biochemical impossibilities. And that block is so strong that I can't even move onto what are probably other reasons why I don't like the idea.

[OptiMoose not logged in]

cesmith and I had an intersting chat about the topic yesterday. My 2 cents about the reason why mpregs are so fascinating:

- if
a) a male&male relationship is more 'interesting' than a m/f one
b) you need sex to make a relationship complete (see Boy's Love thread)
and c) the 'ultimate happy dream' would be to start a family (aka 'Happily ever after')

then you can only achieve that by eliminating the 'grain of dirt', aka the female who would give birth to the child.

So, mpreg would be the ultimate form of relationship.

Uhm.

Well, okay, it was late already. ;D

Do you think this theory holds any water?

[kitsuneoni]

I agree with your theory... I think that many people when writing about a male/male relationship tend to make one of the two more feminine in some way, especially when we're talking about mpregs....

I find it a strange idea. I have read a couple of fics, but it is just such an amusing idea to me that I have difficulty taking it seriously. There are a couple of serious fics who have had mpreg that I have read, but it is not a passion of mine. If I ever wrote about a mpreg, it would probably be only for humorous reasons.

As for what to keep in mind when writing about mpregs... Well it depends on the approach... Some make it seem like a natural event, others a complete accident (due to a potion/spell/curse/etc). For the latter approach I think it's important to remember that guys never experience anything vaguely similar and never think about it at all (whereas girls have monthly reminders). But I don't really know...

I think the most important is to find some sort of way to explain the situation. Guys are generally not "built" for these kind of things...

Absolute no-nos? Ummm... Well I think people should research a bit more into birth and pregnancy before attempting to write it, male OR female. I was once reading an mpreg and stopped when the author started describing the actual birth scene, which, of course, was weird because she'd never mentioned the guy having any extra holes, and the way she was describing it made it seem like the baby was coming out of the guy's behind... Yuck. Poor baby!!

I think people find it repelling because it's not natural, it's.... weird. Going against the grain of nature, I suppose. I am indifferent, as long as people don't force anything on me I don't mind when others write or read it.

As for fascinating... I suppose there are people who like absurd ideas, or like the balance it gives to a male/male relationship. The happily-ever-after end.

Personally, if I wanted a m/m couple to have a fairy tale ending with children I'd have them adopt someone. But generally I don't write fairy tale endings.

Anyway, just my 600000000000 cents worth. (Yes, I ramble all the time).

[narrizan]

ho! I'm sorry, because if i see the words m-preg i just avoid it totally. just me i guess.. even when i first found ff pages and would read almost everything, MPreg i just couldn't cope with, i just could not reconcile myself with the thought of men giving birth.

maybe it's got in part something to do with having had babies myself, partly based on the reactions of my hubby in the delivery room(he fainted; both times! ahahaha!) and perhaps just for the simple fact that men are not 'built' as kitsune-oni-chan says for pregnancy.

i think if people wanted to give their M/M story the complete package which includes the happy families and ever after. they can use the adoption option, or the "find an abandoned child" option...i have actually read a fic which deals with Gojyo finding a pair of baby hanyou twins in a box set post -series whom(who?) Hakkai and himself adopt. A sweet little story!

another way is surrogacy. unfortunately *hangs head in shame* i have actually written a fic along said lines, not posted on ff cos' im too embarrassed. written when i was young and foolish(ie, new to writing!)But its to do with how Gojyo meets up with the little girl he promised to find in 10 yrs when she's more grown up...but things don't turn out as expected. if anyone really wants to take a look the may follow the link below!

www.split-infinity.org/saiyuki/viewstory.php?sid=556

oh and anyone who does actually go there and then after having gotten of the shock! actually deigns to read it who would care to critique it i am all ears! pretty please! onegai!

ok i'm going to get my coffee now...honest just my $2 worth(yeah and it isn't much either going by the exchange rate S$ to US$)

much love to all - zan