History Main / FantasyContraception

** In the setting, there are two different herbal compounds available for female Heralds (and presumably anyone else). Moonflower is a combination contraceptive/period-regulating drug that appears to be at least as reliable as the modern birth control pill. Should you slip up, though, there's at least one herbal abortifacient readily available.

** ''Fanfic/FaceTheStrange'' has the cast’s form of birth control be a spell that turns semen into water. Unfortunately, the protagonist, Dally, still ends up pregnant due to [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Edward Cullen]] sneaking in and using a spell that turns the water back into semen.

But in fantasy, there are limited options, since modern types of contraception will generally seem out of place (some of them are actually OlderThanTheyThink, but the average viewer might not know this because RealityIsUnrealistic, and they still weren't necessarily common). The answer? Just plain make something up, or else dig up something that's real but relatively unknown. Or for that matter, fictionalize a real method -- the ones that find their way into fantasy works are sometimes safer, sanitized versions of how it really works. It rarely matters what -- the point is, the characters can entertain themselves as frequently as necessary without the writer having to worry about biological cause and effect getting in the way of the story.

* Legion in ''Manga/FairyTail'' fan fiction. Authors make mention of characters not only using traditional birth control methods like condoms and pills (and variants on the latter like wafers or potions), but implanted contraceptive lacrimas or wearable anti-fertility charms that may be removed if the user changes his/her mind, the use of area-effect enchantments to create suppression fields, the "humans and [[SummonMagic Celestial Spirits]] can't breed" explanation -- most of which [[STDImmunity also serve to prevent the spread of STDs]].

* ''Fanfic/FromBajorToTheBlack, Part II'' has Eleya refer in passing to being glad she remembered to get her contraceptive implant renewed the other day, before she sleeps with Jerrod Dalton for the first time.

* ''Fanfic/ObserveTheViewingGlobe'': The Universal Morphing Grid appears to provide all the protection against unplanned pregnancy that Power Rangers on active duty need. Only when they lose their powers are they forced to default to condoms and other traditional birth control methods. Which is extremely fortunate, because the same Grid forces Rangers into MateOrDie scenarios ([[NeverSayDie per se]]) on a regular basis, and masturbation is severely limited in the help it can provide.

* ''Fanfic/QueensOfMewni'': Bloomoon tea has contraceptive and abortifacent effects. Unfortunately, it was also Queen Venus's favorite tea, and she drank it without knowing the effects it had, which cause fertility issues among her descendants until Queen Vesper found a solution.

* [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jackson]] in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheWesternSea'' called in his favour from [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Inari]] for a form of this, he can only have children when he makes a specific offering to Inari. As Percy himself notes, mortal contraception doesn't exactly work when gods are involved. Poseidon states that there are ways around such curses but does not elaborate on it.

* ''Fanfic/TheWarOfTheMasters'': Peri Wahlberger tells Kanril Eleya in ''Fanfic/TheBurningOfBerunsWorld'' that she had a SurprisePregnancy once despite having been on an implant. She had the fetus transferred to a UterineReplicator for adoption, and then donated the rest of her eggs to the colony gene bank to be used in IVF treatments. (She doesn't want kids, believing she'd make a terrible mother.)

* The second ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' novel, ''Literature/{{Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess}}'', mentions a weed-like plant created by an unknown female spark which acts as an effective contraceptive when brewed in a tea. Few women in Europa go without their morning 'Maiden's Cup'.

** Having a much higher or much lower quantity of mana in regards to one's own family is far from being unheard of. Those with significantly high levels of mana compared to the rest of their family have a chance of marrying up. Those with significantly low levels of mana compared to the rest of their family are put up for adoption in the lower classes, made servants in their own household or [[LockedAwayInAMonastery sent to the temple]], which means that those not sent to the temple will be marrying down compared to what their lineage should have allowed for.
** In the temple, people of [[SupernaturalElite noble]] birth with extremely low mana cohabitate with [[{{Muggles}} commoners]] raised to be their attendants. People are forbidden to marry, but the discrepency in status between masters and attendants means that sex still happens, usually without the attendant's consent. ChildByRape happens frequently enough that up until some time before Myne took over as orphanage director, the pre-baptism orphans were being cared for by former SexSlave attendants who had been dismissed for getting pregnant by their masters.

** Different spells are required if one of the parents is an elf. Pureblood elves do know the spell, but tend to be carefree and forgetful. This was the case with Orlando, Mafey, Tolik and Cantor's maternal grandfather.

** Immature nymphs (late teens to early twenties[[note]]Physical and mental age. Nymphs seem to appear out of nowhere as ten-year-old girls.[[/note]]) are sterile. Also, they are nymphomaniacs that need to give IntimateHealing to two or three different men every week. Mature nymphs are fertile, but strictly monogamous. Half-nymphs are just ordinary, if sexually hungry, women.

* In the ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Circle Universe]]'' an herb called droughtwort can be used to induce temporarily sterility in men.

* Jean Auel's ''Literature/ClanOfTheCaveBear'' has the herbal method. Which realistically reduces the chance of pregnancy rather than eliminates it. Only one of three women who takes it doesn't get pregnant eventually and that woman only had miscarriages/stillbirths prior to the herbs.

* In a twist, the ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'' series, herbal preventatives aren't specifically referred to, although herbal abortifacients are a few times. The character Jill's problem with conceiving is presented as something much more basic: lots and lots of exercise,[[note]]a problem noted with women athletes in activity-heavy sports[[/note]] and a questionable level of nutrition at times.

** There are some references in the novels and side materials about [[DirtyOldWoman Nanny Ogg]] both serving as a midwife, and providing aid to girls who are pregnant but don't want to be. As she is shown to be a competent herbalist, it's apparent that an abortifacient is implied. Several other witches have been shown or mentioned trading in aphrodisiacs and contraceptives, allowing people to "sow their wild oats while ensuring crop failure, [[LampshadedDoubleEntendre if you know what I mean...]]". Nanny's cheerful attitude towards sex mean that she is most commonly associated with this sort of business, but in her first appearance even Granny Weatherwax set up a shop dealing such potions while in Ankh-Morpork.

** Creator/TerryPratchett is actually quite proud that he could include a condom factory in Anhk-Morpork, because it grounds the city and its culture firmly in reality. You could never get away with that in Middle Earth.
* In Steven Brust's ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'', it is stated that essentially, [[AWizardDidIt some kind of magic exists]] by which women (or at least [[OurElvesAreDifferent Drageran]] ones) can determine exactly when they want to be pregnant. The only illegitimate children come from marriages where one partner is sterile, and the term "bastard" is a lot more insulting for Dragaerans than for humans. This helps enforce the FantasticCasteSystem, since while short-term relationships between members of different Houses are not unknown, they almost never produce offspring and are illegal, and when they do they are shunned and houseless.
* In many of Vonda N. [=McIntyre=]'s novels, everyone learns to control their fertility by way of a process similar to {{biofeedback}}. In ''Literature/{{Dreamsnake}}'' (expanded later into "Of Mist and Sand and Grass") this technique is known simply as 'Control' and works by altering blood flow to the generative organs, The treatment that renders healers immune to poisons and diseases also sterilizes them; however, it's stated that if they ''did'' conceive, the baby wouldn't be viable. As a result, they don't take chances, and learn "biocontrol" anyway.

* There are three different types of contraception metioned in ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy''; once she begins a relationship with Audric, Rielle starts taking maidsright herbs, a type of medicinal plant that acts similiar to birth control pills. After Simon and Eliana have TheirFirstTime together, Simon asks if she has a morning after potion. Eliana informs him that she took a medicine some time ago that rendered her infertile.

* In the ''Literature/GracelingRealm'' world, both Katsa and Bitterblue use seabane, an herb that serves as both birth control and an abortifacient. In the prequal novel, the eponymous Fire is given birth control plants by her father, and Fire later makes the decision to take a certain type of medicine that will leave her permanently unable to have children.

* ''Literature/TheHalfbloodChronicles'': In ''Elvenbane'', it's stated that human women in the elven harems have contraceptives mixed into the very food they eat, allowing the elven lords to have fun while not worrying about siring a hybrid. Shana's mother contemplates a rival must have switched her food for the food the elves ate every day for a month for her to conceive. ''What'' contraceptives are used are never touched on, and the only discussion of whether magic can affect fertility is when Lord Dyran uses his to enhance his and his wife's fertility to fulfill the marriage contract as quickly as possible.

** In the setting, there are two different herbal compounds available for female Heralds (and presumably anyone else). Moonflower is a combination contraceptive/period regulating drug that appears to be at least as reliable as the modern birth control pill. Should you slip up, though, there's at least one herbal abortifacient readily available.

* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Alice's PowerTattoos include contraception spells, but she has no intention of having sex with anyone except Thomas, once she finds him (and is well-armed enough to make anyone who wants to try to force her think twice). Fortunately, [[NotTheIntendedUse they're also effective against parasites]] like [[WickedWasps Apraxis wasp]] larvae.

* In the ''Literature/OneRoseTrilogy'' by Gail Dayton, the women of Adara can have themselves protected by a contraceptive spell. It's apparently 100% effective, unless something interferes with it...like the heroine's own "Godstruck" magic. Abortion is apparently legal in Adara "before the soul takes root", but since the only character we see consider having one is talked out of it, we don't see if that would be magical as well.

* In ''Literature/ShipCore'', one of the main characters, Elis, has an implant that shuts down her reproductive cycle, so no periods, no pregnancies, and she can get as much SexForSolace as she needs. She apparently received this implant some time before the start of her military service. The protagonist, Alex, later gets one herself, not because she's out to get sexy-fun-times, but because she doesn't want to deal with having periods herself.
* ''Literature/TheSilerianTrilogy'': In spite of how much unprotected sex she has, Elelar never gets pregnant and thus finally concludes she's infertile. She's happy with this, because she never slept with a man whom she'd wanted to have a child by. However, it turns out she's been kept from conceiving by Dar, her people's goddess, as she's destined to bear the next [[BenevolentMageRuler Yarhdan]], so having children with other men presumably was an obstacle to that. After she meets and is seduced by the man destined to father the Yarhdan, Elelar gets pregnant at once.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' uses tansy tea relatively realistically: as an abortificient, not contraceptive. It is used in one character's backstory to terminate an unwanted pregnancy ("unwanted" in the sense of politically inconvenient to the mother's family; she herself very much wanted to keep the baby). It's strongly implied that there are in fact unpleasant side-effects, as [[spoiler:after her abortion the character in question has several stillbirths and eventually one underweight, sickly child, suggesting that the herb permanently affected her ability to bear children.]] The trope is played straighter with "moon tea," which includes tansy as just one of its ingredients and appears to work as a relatively safe and effective Plan B contraceptive with few (if any) side effects.

* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, [[SolitarySorceress Shota]] gives Richard and Kahlan a pendant that's meant to keep them from conceiving as a wedding gift, because she believes that their child will become a monster. Of course, in the next book it turns out the thing failed because of [[AntiMagic the Chimes]], so Kahlan, who ''also'' believes her child will be a monster (as male Confessors all turn out to be), [[GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion considers an abortifacient before deciding to keep it]]... and then is beaten nearly to death, [[ConvenientMiscarriage losing the baby anyway]]. The pendant isn't mentioned much later, though the two do go back to an active sex life once she recovers.

* In the ''Literature/VoidTrilogy'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton contraceptives are mentioned a few times; outside the void it is implied that one of the features of bionics is a built-in contraceptive and inside the void a concoction is ingested by the males to make them temporarily infertile.
* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Beta Colony has strict population control, because of a limited amount of natural resources. All girls and hermaphrodites are given a birth control implant upon reaching puberty, and only have it temporarily "switched off" when they earn a childbearing certificate (women are only allowed two children). As it also keeps a woman from having a period, nobody seems to mind. Cordelia has hers removed entirely after marrying Aral Vorkosigan (Barrayaran medical science being a couple generations or more behind Beta Colony's), and becomes pregnant almost immediately.
* In Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/TheWarOfTheFlowers'', the main character Theo is pulled into the realm of TheFairFolk and eventually has an romantic encounter with a girl named Poppy. Before they have sex, she tells him that girls in that world learn a magical charm (essentially a minor spell) to prevent pregnancy once they hit puberty.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' gives Peacekeeper women the ability to hold an embryo in stasis for up to seven cycles (years). This way they can "recreate" as much as they want (encouraged by the PowersThatBe to relieve tension) and pregnancy and birth (aided by ExpressDelivery) can be rescheduled to more convenient times. Also, the "contraceptive shield" Velorek installed in Moya to prevent Crais from impregnating her with a gunship hybrid. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It, D'Argo.]]

** Grand Maester Mellos brings one such to Rhaenyra in "King of the Narrow Sea". If Rhaenyra drinks it, that's an admission she had sex. If she doesn't that would bolster her innocence but risks pregnancy. The scene ends there without seeing what she decides. In the books it's called "moon tea". It's implied to be a very early-term abortifacient to be taken preemptively, weeks before a period or lack thereof confirms or denies pregnancy. While in this case it's handwaved, there's some acknowledgement of the idea that it's not perfect when Mellos says it has to be prepared very carefully, and otherwise it can be either ineffective or dangerous.

* ''Series/KrodMandoonAndTheFlamingSwordOfFire'': Aneka frequently has sex with men to get things which the Resistance needs or in rituals, with no mention of pregnancy or [=STD=]s being a risk. However, later sheepskin condoms are shown to exist, as Zezelry, Bruce and Loquasto prepare to use them before having sex with the succubi (or incubus, in Bruce's case), so we can thus presume that she's got some too (or something else).

* There's a Swedish folk song called ''[[http://sv.wikisource.org/wiki/Uti_v%C3%A5r_hage_d%C3%A4r_v%C3%A4xa_bl%C3%A5_b%C3%A4r Uti vår hage där växa blå bär]]'' (really a matter of LyricalDissonance here) that is a really sweet high strung choral thing about meeting your beloved on the meadows. The refrain is basically reciting a bunch of flowers. It got famous during the nationalist movement in the late 1800s, when learned men would collect all kinds of stories, music and songs from the lowly peasants. Most of the songs were deemed unsuitable for the fine music salons of Stockholm, but this one was an instant hit. Little did the learned men and their ladies know, that the flowers mentioned were those used as abortifacients or contraceptives...

* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', in [[ProudWarriorRace the Clans]], for members of the warrior caste, sex is purely for recreation. To prevenet pregnancies, all female warriors are given implants that render them infertile. There's one known case of a female warrior getting pregnant- Cadet Peri, who deliberately sabotaged her implant in order to conceive a child with Cadet Aiden, [[BrotherSisterIncest her sybkin]]. This child would eventually grow up to become a mechwarrior under Aiden's command, Mechwarrior Diana.
* ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' has a contraceptive herb that is considered sacred to the goddess of beauty, love and wine, which tends to be 100% effective. Witches can also learn to strike somebody barren, while this is traditionally used as a curse, some more enterprising witches have found an alternate market for this effect.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', has two if you are a humanoid. One is Night Tea and is used by biologically female humanoids. It needs to be taken daily to work. The other is Bachlor's Snuff and is for humanoid biological males, it renders them sterile for one to three days, and constant use leads to a gold tinge around the fingernails. However should a non-humanoid be the one trying to avoid getting pregnant they are rather out of luck.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': In Westeros, there's a special tea to be taken in the style of a morning-after pill. ** Grand Maester Mellos brings one such to Rhaenyra in "King of the Narrow Sea". If Rhaenyra drinks it, that's an admission she had sex. If she doesn't that would bolster her innocence but risks pregnancy. The scene ends there without seeing what she decides. In the books it's called "moon tea". It's implied to be a very early-term abortifacient to be taken preemptively, weeks before a period or lack thereof confirms or denies pregnancy. While in this case it's handwaved, there's some acknowledgement of the idea that it's not perfect when Mellos says it has to be prepared very carefully, and otherwise it can be either ineffective or dangerous.

* [[https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/my-april-fools-confession/ This]] AlternateHistory involves silphium (see below) being an effective contraceptive and thus altering the course of history.

* ''VideoGame/FableII'' provides the player with condoms made from animal intestine, which may sound like something they made up but is [[AluminumChristmasTrees actually historical]].

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': People with significantly different {{Mana}} levels can't have children with each other, making UptownGirl situations quite rare. There are twists to this, however:

* "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme," which is the refrain to, but [[RefrainFromAssuming not the title of]], ''Scarborough Fair'', is [[CommonKnowledge often said]] to be a list of herbal abortificients, though since the list [[NewerThanTheyThink wasn't actually added to the ballad until the nineteenth century]], it probably isn't. It is true that all of those herbs do have abortificient properties, to the point where some pregnant women are discouraged from eating rosemary.

** Fanfic/FaceTheStrange has the cast’s form of birth control be a spell that turns semen into water. Unfortunately, the protagonist, Dally, still ends up pregnant due to [[Literature/Twilight Edward Cullen]] sneaking in and using a spell that turns the water back into semen.

* ''Literature/HowToTrainYour Dragon'': in another WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids moment, the Archipelago doesn't have contraception but all the tribes practise socially mandated infanticide if their infant fails to thrive; runts are exposed or put in a small boat and left to drift, putting their survival to the will of the gods. However, those that do survive are adopted. It's also mentioned that Stoick and Valhallarama had trouble conceiving, and [[spoiler: this is why they broke the rules and didn't expose the weedy Hiccup]].

* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'' provides several spells for preventing or terminating pregnancies, although since every self-respecting Hermetic mage takes regular doses of a LongevityTreatment that renders them permanently sterile, they don't come up as often as they might.

** Durkon and Helga didn't have Protection cantrips prepared when they met in the dungeon. Several months later, the readers are reintroduced to Helga, [[spoiler:and introduced to her son Kudzu]].

* In ''Literature/TheVorkosiganSaga'', Beta Colony has strict population control, because of a limited amount of natural resources. All girls and hermaphrodites are given a birth control implant upon reaching puberty, and only have it temporarily "switched off" when they earn a childbearing certificate (women are only allowed two children). As it also keeps a woman from having a period, nobody seems to mind. Cordelia has hers removed entirely after marrying Aral Vorkosigan (Barrayaran medical science being a couple generations or more behind Beta Colony's), and becomes pregnant almost immediately.

* In a WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids example: the ''Literature/GreenSkyTrilogy'' makes a point of this. A common, parasitic shrub that grows in the tops of the city-trees has a contraceptive effect, and wafers made from the shrub are freely available among the Kindar. In fact, the Ol-Zhaan social elite and those between 13-25 are required to take them, ostensibly so they can concentrate on their social responsibilities (apprenticeships for ordinary Kindar, administrative tasks for Ol-Zhaan). More sinisterly, making sure the Ol-Zhaan cannot have families keeps them from passing on potentially dangerous knowledge and keeps them isolated from ordinary Kindar. The fact that contraceptive herbs do not grow underground is part of the reason for the Erdlings' food shortages, as they are simply too many and the food sources too few. As a result, sex is one of the few things the Kindar are much more open about than Erdlings.

* Similarly, Roy of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was the result of a Protection spell failing.
** And so was [[spoiler: Kudzu]].