Pregnancies
From Lostpedia
Many pregnancies have been featured in Lost. Additionally, unknown conditions on the Island have led to fertility problems among the Others, as well as an immune system related condition that causes women who become pregnant on the Island to die.
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Fertility and pregnancy issues on the Island
Fertility
- There appears to be some evidence that women on the Island suffer from a form of degeneration of their reproductive organs. In "Not in Portland", Richard Alpert showed Juliet a scan of a woman in her 20s, though they seemed more fitting of a woman in her 70s in terms of signs of reproductive capability. Juliet was told that this would be one of the things she would investigate on the Island.
- It has not been explicitly stated that this problem was solved by Juliet's research, or indeed even actually existed, but we know that while Juliet was on the Island, women were dying after becoming pregnant, suggesting that infertility was no longer an issue, if it ever was to begin with.
- Island males, on the other hand, see their sperm counts multiply five times normal, so that in each, uh, dose, contains 300 to 400 million sperm. (Healthy normal sperm counts are 40 to 50 million per sample.)
Pregnancies
- In "D.O.C.", Juliet states that if the mother conceived off-Island, they will most likely survive the pregnancy. However, if the baby was conceived on the Island, the mother will likely die before their third trimester, as a result of the mysterious issues surrounding the location.
- According to Juliet, "The problem occurs somewhere during the second trimester, when the mother's immune system is triggered. The white blood cell count plummets. It's like the...immune system turns on the fetus." "The Other Woman"
- According to Juliet, "In about three weeks [approximately the end of Sun's first trimester], you'll be in an almost constant state of nausea. A week after that, you will experience shortness of breath that won't go away. A week after that, you will lose consciousness and slip into a coma. And then, Sun, you will die. And when your heart stops beating... so will the baby's. And that, Sun, is why it is my business, because you are my patient. If you go... you will die. And your baby will never be born."
- According to this report, pregnant women can expect to die on the Island somewhere after their 100th day of pregnancy.
Juliet Burke
In the outside world, Juliet developed a drug in 2001 for degeneration-based infertility. She tested this treatment on her sister Rachel Carlson who was infertile from cancer treatment, and her sister was able to successfully become pregnant. Her sister later carried the child through to a successful birth. Her work attracted the attention of the Others, who recruited Juliet and brought her to the island to solve their infertility problems. It is unknown whether Juliet was able to solve the former problem of degeneration in reproductive capacity, or whether it was truly a problem and not a flippant example by Alpert, but Juliet did work on ensuring that pregnant mothers survived their pregnancies. However, Juliet's proved unsuccessful, with the mothers always dying during pregnancy, including Sabine and Henrietta ("Not in Portland") ("One of Us") ("The Other Woman")
Juliet was unable to find a solution to the immune problem. She theorized that the problem occurred at conception and proposed to Ben a plan where she would take a subject off the island for conception to test the theory, but Ben rejected the idea of anyone leaving the island.
When Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on the island, however, Claire Littleton was 8 months pregnant. She provided the Others with the perfect control case, and having conceived off-island meant Juliet could test her theory about the immunity issue being related to something occurring at conception on the Island. Juliet has said that Ethan, who had infiltrated the mid-section passengers, took blood samples from Claire, but soon discovered that her results were consistent with other mothers who later died on the Island during their pregnancies (despite conceiving off-island). Juliet claimed Ethan began treating Claire and administering injections. These injections were said by Juliet to be her created drug. ("One of Us") Ethan was seen injecting Claire with a drug that had the same DHARMA Initiative label as the vaccine ("Maternity Leave").
According to Juliet, when Ethan's identity was eventually discovered, he decided to kidnap Claire on his own initiative. Claire was kept at the Staff medical facility, where she was given more drug treatments, and her medical condition was closely observed ("One of Us")
Claire escaped from the Staff with the help of Alex. As she was leaving, the medical team of the Others was seen preparing for a surgical procedure probably involving Claire. Alex said that they intended to cut the baby our of her ("Maternity Leave"). Ethan pursued Claire and demanded that she be returned to him. He was captured in an attempt to kidnap Claire again and was afterward shot six times while lying unarmed on the ground by Charlie resulting in his death ("Homecoming"). Claire gave birth without complications to Aaron and after Ethan's death there were no further attempts to kidnap either Claire or the baby.
Claire at one point was concerned that Aaron was ill and obtained some of the vaccine that Desmond had taken every nine days at the Swan. It is unclear how much of the drug Claire gave Aaron or how long she continued to give it to her child.
It was later revealed that Claire has an "implant" under the control of the Others. The activation of the implant was able to induce what was said by Juliet to be a withdrawal symptom from no longer having injections of her serum, within 48 hours. However, this is obviously a lie as it was the Others who activated the implant to cause Claire to be symptomatic. Whatever the cause of illness caused by the implant, Juliet was able to successfully treat Claire's condition with the vaccine. ("One of Us")
Juliet then discovered that Sun was pregnant, and revealed that if she conceived off-island, there was a likelihood that the mother and child would both live (confirming Juliet's original theory). However, Sun discovers she became pregnant on the Island, causing Juliet to admit that without help, Sun will die before her third trimester. ("D.O.C.")
Occurrences of pregnancy
The following characters have been pregnant, or have taken pregnancy tests.
| Mother | Father | Positive Pregnancy | End Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Ana Lucia Cortez | (Presumed) Danny* |  | Unborn baby was killed by Jason McCormack |
 | Beth* | her husband* | | Died before giving birth |
 | Cassidy Phillips* | James "Sawyer" Ford | | Gave birth to Clementine Phillips |
 | Kate Austen | Kevin Callis* |  | Pregnancy test was negative |
 | Rachel Carlson* | Injection | | Gave birth to Julian Carlson |
 | Sarah Shephard* | Jack Shephard | | Pregnancy test was negative |
| Sarah Shephard* | Unknown | | Pregnancy starts sometime in late 2006/early 2007, as seen in April 2007 flash-forward |
 | Susan Lloyd* | Michael Dawson | | Gave birth to Walter Lloyd |
 | Henrietta* | Unknown | | Died from pregnancy |
 | Sabine* | Unknown | | Died from pregnancy |
 | Claire Littleton | Thomas* | | Gave birth to Aaron Littleton |
 | Danielle Rousseau | Robert | | Gave birth to Alex |
 | Sun-Hwa Kwon | Jin-Soo Kwon | | Gave birth to Ji Yeon Kwon off-Island |
 | Emily Linus* | Roger Linus* | | Died after giving birth to Ben |
 | Emily Locke* | Anthony Cooper | | Gave birth successfully to John Locke three months premature |
(*) Flashback character
Details are listed below, sorted by episode.
Season 1
- Claire Littleton was shown pregnant at the beginning of the series. She was 8 months pregnant at the time of the crash ("Pilot, Part 1")
- Claire took a pregnancy test, and it shows she was pregnant. ("Raised by Another")
- Beth was pregnant. She died because Christian Shephard was intoxicated while performing an operation. ("All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")
- Susan Lloyd was shown pregnant with Walt. She gave birth to Walt in the same episode. ("Special")
- Emily tells Locke that he was "immaculately conceived", although she apparently meant that he had no father, not that he was free from original sin. (This statement is obviously false, and is revealed to be a part of a con by Anthony Cooper.) ("Deus Ex Machina")
- Claire Littleton gave birth to Aaron. ("Do No Harm")
- Danielle Rousseau revealed that she was 7 months pregnant when she arrived on the Island; a week after her baby daughter was born, the child was taken by the Others. ("Exodus, Part 1")
Season 2
- Ana Lucia Cortez was pregnant, but her unborn child was killed by Jason McCormack. ("Collision")
- Sarah Shephard told Jack that she had taken a pregnancy test. She said it was negative. ("The Hunting Party")
- Kate told Sun that she once took a pregnancy test. ("The Whole Truth")
- Sun was told she is not able to get pregnant, because her husband Jin is infertile. ("The Whole Truth")
- Sun took a pregnancy test, and is confirmed pregnant. ("The Whole Truth")
Season 3
- Cassidy becomes pregnant with Clementine by Sawyer. ("Every Man for Himself") ("Left Behind")
- Kate told her husband that her pregnancy test was negative. ("I Do")
- Juliet is revealed to be a fertility doctor. She has impregnated a male field mouse and successfully uses a new drug to make her sister Rachel fertile. Dr. Alpert asks her to examine the CT scan of an unusual womb. ("Not in Portland")
- Ben claims "I was born on this island. Not many of my people can say that." ("The Man from Tallahassee") - In fact he was born in a forest 32 miles outside Portland. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
- Rachel is revealed to have given birth to her son, Julian, two years prior to present time. ("One of Us")
- For reasons as yet unknown, pregnancy on the Island is fatal. Juliet was brought to the island to find a cure. She witnessed the death of many women as a result of their pregnancies, including Sabine. The women's immune systems treat the fetus as an invasive organism. Claire is the only known woman on the Island to have survived pregnancy and childbirth according to Juliet. ("One of Us")
- Emily Linus gives birth to her son Ben and dies soon afterwards. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
- Sarah Shephard is shown to be pregnant, father is presumed to be not Jack. ("Through the Looking Glass")
- Kate reminds Sawyer that the Others are coming for the pregnant women, and that she could be one of them. Sawyer says they should hope she's not pregnant.
- Ben claims that the reason he brainwashed Karl was because he did not want him to get Alex pregnant.
Season 4
- Sawyer broaches the topic of Kate's possible pregnancy on Claire's porch at the Barracks, Kate discusses babies with Claire, and then the following morning, Kate tells Sawyer she's sure she's not pregnant.
Who else could be pregnant?
Major characters
- Juliet: Due to her relationship with Goodwin.
- Assuming Juliet's last sexual encounter with Goodwin (a) impregnated her and (b) was immediately before the crash, Juliet herself would be nearing the fatal 100 day mark.
- As the fertility doctor on the Island, with intimate knowledge of the fatal complications of pregnancy, and presumably with access to birth control, Juliet being pregnant by Goodwin seems unlikely.
- Kate: She has had sex with Sawyer on three occasions that we've been privy to; she tells Sawyer she's not pregnant at the end of "Eggtown". However, Juliet was apparently never able to get "Austen's sample" ("The Man Behind the Curtain") and we have not seen Kate take a pregnancy test, so Kate's statement to Sawyer has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
- "I Do": This encounter was almost certainly totally unprotected, given that they did it an polar-bear cage in the middle of the jungle. If Kate was impregnated during "I Do," she would be approximately 27 days pregnant circa the "present" day, "Meet Kevin Johnson". Assuming Kate has a typical 28-day menstrual cycle, she would/should know now or very soon if she's not pregnant from this encounter. (In the case of pregnancy, proving the negative is generally easier than proving the positive.)
- "Catch-22": It is possible that Sawyer and Kate used birth control in this instance, probably gleaned from Sawyer's stash. Assuming Kate has a typical menstrual cycle, she would/should know by January 11, 2005 if she was not pregnant from this encounter.
- "The Brig": It is possible that Sawyer and Kate used birth control in this instance, probably gleaned from Sawyer's stash. Assuming Kate has a typical menstrual cycle, she would/should know by January 16, 2005 if she was not pregnant from this encounter.
- Other possible encounters: The night between "The Man Behind the Curtain" and "Greatest Hits" (although the talk of "samples" might have thrown them off), the night of the second exodus in "Through the Looking Glass" (although camping with 40 other Losties including Jack isn't that conducive to sexytime), the night between "The Economist" and "Eggtown" (Kate was hardly being friendly either of those days, but then again, Sawyer did propose to her in "The Economist" so she might have been feeling kindly disposed to him that evening.)
- Alex: Ben seems very concerned about the possibility that Alex might get pregnant by Karl. "Confirmed Dead"
Background characters
- Cindy: Explaining why she was 'taken' on Day 48
- Nancy: Explaining why she was 'taken' on Day 12
- Tracy: Due to her 'encounters' with Steve
- Faith: she may have had sex with her boyfriend Oscar before the crash.
Recurring themes
Father missing during pregnancy
- Thomas left Claire when she was still pregnant. ("Raised by Another")
- Ana Lucia's relationship with Danny ended before she could tell him she was pregnant. ("Collision")
- Sawyer did not find out Cassidy was pregnant until after Clementine was born. ("Every Man for Himself")
- A father was never mentioned for Rachel's son. ("Not in Portland") ("One of Us")
- John Locke's father was not around when he was born.
Separation after negative pregnancy test
- Sarah left Jack shortly after seeing a negative pregnancy test. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- Kate left Kevin Callis shortly after seeing a negative pregnancy test. ("I Do")
Virgin conception
- In "Deus Ex Machina", Locke is told by his mother, Emily Annabeth Locke, that he was "immaculately conceived", although she meant that he had no father (i.e. "virgin birth"), not that he was free from original sin. However, she reveals later in the episode the true identity of Locke's father, implying she lied to keep his whereabouts a secret.
Premature Birth
- John Locke was born 3 months premature.
- Ben was born premature.
- The public believe that Aaron was born to Kate approximately 3 months early.
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Pregnancies/Theories
- Why do pregnant women die on the Island?
- If the fatal complications occur during the pregnancy would it be possible for the mother to have an abortion to prevent her death?
- When did the medical complications of pregnancy first occur on the Island?
- Why do men become more fertile on the island, while women are unable to carry to term?
- Do the others employ any birth control methods?
- Were there fertility problems before the purge?
- Were fertility experiments carried out as part of DHARMA's work?
- Why were the Others coming for the Oceanic survivors pregnant women?
See also
