Paul’s Paranormal Portfolio
Paul B’s Look At Male Pregnancy Paranormal Stories
Welcome to the second edition of Paul’s Paranormal Portfolio. The blog editor, Melanie, has asked that I make this a monthly column to talk about all things paranormal, alien, and science fiction not only in gay romance books but also in television, movies and books in general. While the emphasis will be on gay romance in those media, this column will hopefully touch on all things paranormal.
I would like to use this edition of the portfolio to discuss an issue that has grown in the area of paranormal and science fiction gay romances. Male pregnancy has been seen in more and more books in these genres. Whole series of books are centered on the idea. Love it or hate it, the growth in the number of books featuring the idea proves that is here to stay.
Mainstream movies have used male pregnancy as a source for comedy. While there are comedic moments in gay romance novels surrounding male pregnancy, the primary function of the device is to provide offspring for our gay male couples. Having read several of these novels, I have found that there are basically four major ways that authors have used this plot line
The first and I think most prevalent is the alpha-omega coupling. The omega shifter, the weakest members according to some authors or the strongest members according to others, has the ability to become pregnant. The omega usually finds his alpha mate and they will start a family. On rare occasions, omegas will become pregnant by alphas who are not their mate.
Next up is the paranormal who can become pregnant because of the type of paranormal they are. The most common occurrence of this I have found in books featuring faes. It is usually a unique ability of the species and usually not revealed to others unless they become a mate to someone who can become pregnant. An example of this is Stormy Glenn’s Midnight Mating story Sparkle and Purr.
Another example is the paranormal who can get their mate pregnant regardless of gender. An example of this is Charlie Richard’s gargoyles in her Wolves of Stone Ridge and Love at First Bite series. Since the gargoyles are all male, they must be able to impregnate their mate, whether they are male or female to keep the gargoyle population from extinction.
The fourth major theme of male pregnancy is the paranormal with reproductive organs from both genders. While the paranormal may be distinctly male (or female), he has the ability to create offspring in either fashion. The Fal’Amoric in Lexi Ander’s series The Valespian Pact series are an example of this. When Zeus Vondorian was taken to Chtichilian doctors to cure him of his blindness, they took away half of his ability to reproduce.
While these are the primary ways I have found for male pregnancy in paranormal gay romances, it is by no means a complete list. A rare example in found in Erin M Leaf’s book Rock Star Baby. In her book, two alpha shifters produce an offspring which is noted by the outgoing leader of the wolf council to be quite rare and special. If you have different examples of male pregnancy, please feel free to comment or send me an email (found on my profile page).
Also, if you have an idea for future editions for this portfolio, email me or comment below.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 
Not so much a “different” example, but Anya Byrne’s Lone Wolf Pack universe has werewolves being able to impregnate their mates. I believe it’s something that can only happen with a ‘True Mate’ pairing, and until recently (i.e. the timeline surrounding the books) there weren’t a lot of same-sex true matings, so it wasn’t a well known fact.
LikeLike
Thanks for bringing that up ky. I have read a couple of the Lone Wolf Pack books. It is a cross between the paranormal getting his mate pregnant regardless of gender and the “other” category that Rock Star Baby falls in.
LikeLike
I’d love to see you do a followup to this article, discussing how you personally feel about the idea of MPreg, as a man. What you like about it/what squicks you out/what aspects of culture you think might be interrogated by this theme.
LikeLike
Thanks for the suggestion Emma. As the only male reviewer of the blog, I can share my views on the subject and will ask my fellow reviewers for their comments as well. It will be interesting for me to get a woman’s point of view on the subject.
LikeLike
Interesting column. I must have missed your first edition. Keep up the good work!
One idea I’d like to see discussed is the prevalence of a female best friend in m/m fiction. It’s so widespread that it gives the impression no gay or bisexual man has any male friends!
LikeLike
Thanks Ariss. The first column is on my profile page.
As for the female best friend, you don’t really see too much of that in the paranormal or sci fi realm where I tend to specialize. But I could suggest it to one of the other reviewers.
LikeLike