History Main / ImmortalProcreationClause

In a strictly biological sense this trope is fairly logical. Without death, an immortal population would constantly grow and eventually crowd themselves out and deplete their resources. As such, childbirth isn't really a necessity for such a species, since the members rarely need replacement. The above formula can (loosely) apply to any given species.

** As the books themselves comment on, the immortal lords of multiverse have been around for millennia but are not particularly fertile: the first book is ''Nine Princes in Amber'', not ''Nine Hundred Thousand Princes in Amber''. That said, several bastard children of the Princes come up in the first series, and the sequel series features several more.
** There are also references to several older princes who died "For the good of Amber" after becoming too ambitious or otherwise falling out with their father King Oberon, which also helped in keeping the number of princes and princesses to a minimum.

* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/{{Amtor}}'' series had the Vepajans, Venusian HumanAliens who consumed [[ImmortalityInducer an anti-aging serum]] that extended their lifespan and allowed them to live indefinitely. Half their women are also infertile, and the other half is allowed to breed a limited number of children to avoid overpopulation.
* In Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' books, Paul Richard Corcoran, being a HalfHumanHybrid, and his descendants have unnaturaly long lifespans (150-200 years). However, this also means they are highly unlikely to have children until they are well in their 40s or even 50s. This could indicate a slower rate of maturity.
** However, once able to have children, they usually have at least 2. One is noted to have 3 children of her own and then adopting 3 more (keeping a promise she makes at one point).
** One of the advantages the humans have over the Faata is their numbers and reproductive ability. Despite centuries of genetic engineering, the Faata still haven't figured out how to grow their race at a rate even approaching that of the humans. It also doesn't help that they deliberately engineer their lower castes to have a lifespan measuring only a few years, further reducing their population growth, despite the fact that they have a whole caste of breeders who are artificially inseminated and whose gestation is accelerated to a matter of weeks.

** Completely averted in Akhmanov's ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'', where humanity has discovered a cure for aging (called Cellular Regeneration, or CR). This doesn't stop people from having kids in the least, and many colonies have to impose PopulationControl. In fact, the titular character, being quite possibly the oldest human alive (being born in pre-CR days on Earth), has hundreds of thousands of children, although he explains that he didn't technically father any of them save one (his first daughter with his first wife), as they're all the result of artificial insemination with his sperm donated on many planets. However, this trope is, technically, preserved in that the CR treatment is not passed down to children and must be reapplied to everyone once they reach the age they want to be "frozen" in (most choose early 20s, although some prefer early 30s).

* Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' series:
** As the books themselves comment on, the immortal lords of multiverse have been around for millennia, but are not particularly fertile: the first book is ''Nine Princes In Amber'', not ''Nine Hundred Thousand Princes In Amber''. That said, several bastard children of the Princes come up in the first series, and the sequel series features several more.

* In Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/{{Cyteen}}'', it is mentioned in passing that rejuvenation drugs have a side effect of making the user sterile. Though saving a sample before beginning treatment is standard procedure and reproductive cloning isn't uncommon.
* In the sci-fi ''The Declaration'' by Gemma Malloy, immortality has been made possible. Unfortunately, nobody who "opts-in" is allowed to have children because of this. Any children, or "surpluses," born to people who opt in are sent to [[OrphanageOfFear group homes]] and taught that they are worthless beings that do not deserve to exist.
* Creator/KatherineKerr's ''Literature/{{Deverry}} series'':

* Both averted and justified in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/CarpeJugulum''. Vampires are perfectly capable of reproducing, through both the bite and the normal way, but they seldom ''want'' to because it means more competition for food. Even worse, the vampire parents usually expect their offspring to [[NotAllowedToGrowUp remain their loving, obedient children for all eternity]]. This does not go over well with the kids.
* Inverted in ''Literature/DoraWilkSeries'', where nigh-immortal [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]] are ''insanely'' fertile, to the point where any sexual encounter, even with contraceptives, is nearly sure to result in woman getting pregnant.
* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': The elf-like Dragaerans have an ancient, continent-spanning empire and a two- to three-thousand year lifespan, but avoid overpopulation problems because their biology lets them consciously choose whether they can become pregnant. [[spoiler:{{Justified|Trope}} since their species was genetically engineered by the Jenoine AbusivePrecursors.]]
* Averted in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Wizards and other powerful magic users are [[AgeWithoutYouth very long-lived (they can be killed, but left to their own devices and otherwise unmolested, they'll go on for centuries),]] and they can reproduce.
** All [[spoiler: seven Carpenter children]] are the product of at least a sorcerer-level talent and [[spoiler: Maggie Dresden is the unexpected daughter of Harry (a full-blown member/wizard of the White Council)]].

** However, the descendants of wizards/sorcerors are only occasionally gifted, meaning their lifespan is that of a mortal. Of the [[spoiler: seven children born to Charity Carpenter, only Molly]] has shown any magical skill (although she has enough to be considered a true wizard) - however, per WordOfGod, that's because the parent in question went cold turkey on magic shortly before the magical child's conception, and kept it up ever since, which is indicated to have an effect.
*** Anastasia Luccio (born sometime in the 1800s) laments the fact that she is now a many times great-ancestor, observing her family from afar for the rare magical talents. Senior Council member Martha Liberty is in a similar situation, although she lives with her family.

** PlayedWith in the vampires of the White Court, who are functionally succubi/incubi. They breed relatively often for immortals. There are at least five Raith children in the main household, [[spoiler:and the patriarch of this family is known to have killed many of his sons]]. White Court vampires ''can'' avoid activation by having their first sexual encounter with someone they love, which essentially kills the demon inside them and renders them mortal. In addition, Thomas implies that the females of the Court don't get pregnant unless they choose to. In ''Literature/PeaceTalks'' he indicates that it is very unusual for males to impregnate their partners [[spoiler:which is why Justine getting pregnant blindsided him and is confirmed in ''Literature/BattleGround'' to have been intentionally caused by the thing possessing her to manipulate Thomas]].
* Played straight ''so hard'' it hurts in ''Literature/{{Fragment}}''. When the protagonists discover the [[spoiler: mandatory sentient species that seems to be a part of any LostWorld or Alien planet, they discover that they are immortal ''because'' they don't have any babies in a combination of ClicheStorm and ArtisticLicenseBiology.]]

* Literature/GeorginaKincaid, succubus, is unable to bear children since she became a succubus.
* Humanity's TransHuman descendants in the ''Literature/GreatShip'' series rarely ever have more than one or two children (in normal circumstances) despite living for an [[TimeAbyss hundreds of thousands of years]]. Part of the low birth rate seems to be implied by parents having to [[PopulationControl pay for addition berths]] on the [[PlanetSpaceship Great Ship]]. However, their fertility is unchanged -- Dream's mother in ''Eater-Of-Bone'' had several children; though all but Dream died from malnutrition due to the LostColony's near-total [[MetalPoorPlanet absence of metals and salts]] vital to their [[HyperactiveMetabolism augmented metabolism]].
* In ''Literature/GuildHunter'':
** [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]] over 200-years-old cannot have children.
** [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]] have a ''very'' low birth rate, with sometimes ''decades'' between two angelic birth ''on the planet''.

* Witches in Phillip Pullman's ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy live roughly a thousand years. They take human men for lovers and bear children; if the children are girls, they're witches and if boys, human and short-lived. Presumably, they don't have children especially often. One character suggests that a witch dies when her heart is so broken from watching her lovers and sons grow old and die that she can't go on.

* In Creator/PiersAnthony's series, ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'', while serving as an Incarnation, one thing that is stopped is aging and, since reproduction is an aspect of aging (cellular meiosis), they are unable to bear or sire children. When they leave "office", the restriction is lifted. This causes one of the characters to be nearly the same age as her son, physically at least (she had relatives raise him while she was in office.)
* Similar to Tolkien elves, the elven race in Literature/{{The Inheritance Cycle}} can reproduce, but don't really see much reason to as they are immortal. When elven children are born, however, they are treated as something special and wonderful for these very same reasons.
* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'': Here, the gods don't have parents or siblings. They have always existed and cannot have children with each other or with mortals.

* According to prot[sic] in the ''Literature/KPax'' novels, since the [=K-PAX=]ian lifespan is over a thousand years, combined with their unappealing mating process(which involves profound pain, nausea and a bad smell), there's no problem with either under OR overpopulation.
* In Creator/MercedesLackey's {{Urban Fantas|y}}ies and {{Historical Fantas|y}}ies, the immortal [[OurElvesAreDifferent sidhe]] can reproduce, but it happens extremely infrequently. As a result, children are treasured by both the Unseighlie and Seighlie Sidhe, although only the Seighlie expand this love to human children and try to save them from unpleasant fates.
** For the elves in Literature/TheObsidianTrilogy, children are also very rare and precious.

* Touched on in ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn''. The unicorns, which are immortal but ''can'' be killed, live solitary lives in separate forests, needing only the knowledge that other unicorns exist for company. As such, they mate very rarely, and te narration mentions that that for this reason, no place is more enchanted than one where a unicorn has been born.
* Goes beyond this with the "glorifieds" in the Literature/LeftBehind book ''Kingdom Come'', since they won't even have the desire for sexual intercourse (because there is neither marriage in Heaven, nor any desire to sin, and extramarital sex is sinful).
* In ''Literature/TheLifeAndAdventuresOfSantaClaus,'' none of the immortals are allowed to reproduce, or even seem to have a concept of children--but the idea is so attractive that it prompts [[SupernaturallyYoungParent Nicele]], a nymph, to raise the [[DoorstopBaby foundling]] SantaClaus as her child.
* In Aleksandr Zarevin's ''Lonely Gods of the Universe'', the HumanAliens from the planet Oll arrive to Earth [[AncientAstronauts in distant past]], escaping from a power-hungry official. They plant some seeds they bring with them to grow food, and the seeds of a salad plant known as ambrosia grow practically overnight. After eating a salad made from ambrosia, they suddenly fall ill and wake up young and immortal. Somehow, an alien plant has acquired entirely new properties on Earth. They make a few locals immortal as well and establish themselves as gods on the island. While the females who become immortal are incapable of conceiving a child, this is absolutely not the case for any immortal male who sleeps with a human woman. That is, in fact, the cause of the many hair colors modern humans have. The original humans all had dark hair, while the Olympians (yes, [[Myth/GreekMythology those Olympians]]; they also call their island {{Atlantis}} after Atl, their home country on Oll) are all redheads. Immortality can only be achieved through consuming a sufficient quantity of ambrosia, which withered and died soon after blooming.
** The Ollans have managed to dry and preserve some ambrosia leaves. One of them is awakened by a Russian man after centuries in stasis. In return, she gives him a full dose. However, he decides to only take half of it and keep the other half for later. The half only heals his grave wounds and extends his life but doesn't turn him young or stop his aging. Later, he gives the other half to the protagonist's friend, who has lost a leg during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The leg grows back overnight.
* Straightforwardly stated in C.S. Friedman's ''Literature/TheMadnessSeason.'' The vampires of that book are only fertile when they subsist on a diet of ''willingly provided'' human blood. This is explained in-text as an evolutionary mechanism to keep them from reproducing in an environment that isn't willing to support new vampires.
** The Marra, as well, are subject to this. Energy beings who are not able to die but can also not create new Marra (or, if they can, they have [[TheFogOfAges forgotten how]]).
* A similar situation holds for the werewolves in Patricia Briggs's ''Literature/MercyThompson'' novels. The werewolves don't age (and if they were old when they were turned, they'll revert to looking adult, but permanently young and fit). Male werewolves can have children with ordinary women, but they'll be born mortal, and there's a high risk of miscarriage. Female werewolves can get pregnant, but inevitably miscarry when they change, which they must do at full moon. The only exception is Charles, the son of the Marrok, who is the offspring of two werewolves and was born one; his Native American mother used magic to hold off the change, but the effort depleted her strength and she died in childbirth. It's often a plot point that older werewolves often become unstable because they have outlived too many partners and children -- in the Briggs 'verse it's dangerous to try to become a werewolf, as you have to be savaged to the point of death and not many survive the process, so they can't automatically turn their wives and children.
** Vampires in Briggs's 'verse seem not to reproduce in the usual way as they're not so much immortal as undead; they're literally dead during the day. They remain the same age as when they were turned. However, many of them assume a parental responsibility for new vampires that they have turned, and a vampire seethe acts very much like a big dysfunctional mafia family.

* In ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'' series, the Moties ''invert'' this -- if they don't have children, they die young and horribly, while as far as anyone knows a Motie who keeps getting pregnant and giving birth on schedule can live indefinitely. Oh, and the most likable group, the ones who learn English and talk to the humans of the series? They're sterile hybrids. They die after 25 years or so.

* A rare aversion of this trope for Elves is in the manga / light novel series ''Literature/NewLifePlusYoungAgainInAnotherWorld''. Here Elves are extremely long-lived AND just as fertile as humans. The Elven King (who's been around for a few centuries) is noted to have over 150 children, which makes the royal succession a nightmare.
* In Lynn Flewelling's ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' series, the human wizards live up to 400 years but are also sterile (and most of them are celibate as well, apparently mostly for cultural reasons). This is actually a problem in the setting, as only humans with some degree of [[OurElvesAreDifferent aurenfaie]] blood can have magic powers and the Aurenfaie have been very isolationist for the last few centuries. So the number of wizards is slowly dwindling, and this is becoming a military disadvantage for the main culture in the story. The royal family, who have an Aurenfaie ancestor a few generations back, live about twice as long as pure humans and most of them can reproduce, though. On the other hand, they don't appear to have any magic talents. The Aurenfaie themselves live 300-400 years and are fertile (the family the reader learns most about had at least 4 children before the mother died) but despite occupying a limited territory, they don't appear to have any population problem. This may be because they don't allow a youngster to marry until he or she is well on their way to their 100th birthday, even though they develop a sex drive somewhere around the age of 20.
* The [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Others]] in Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'' books are fully capable of reproduction, but their children have just as much chance of being an Other as a child of two {{Muggle}}s (i.e. very slim). This is why many Others avoid having children, so that they don't have to watch them grow old and die. The Others aren't, technically, immortal, but even the weakest of them can enjoy several centuries of life. The most powerful ones tend to be thousands of years old and not look it. The vampires and werewolves are the exception, as they're able to "initiate" (i.e. bite) their children to turn them. However, vampires and werewolves are the lowers rungs of the Dark Others and are viewed at with little more than disdain. The Light ones see them as nothing more than beasts, while the higher Dark ones consider them cannon fodder. Additionally, they can only feed on humans with a license granted by the Night Watch. Doing so without one is punishable by death.
** Additionally, vampires can only have one child after being turned, at which point their reproductive ability disappears. Nothing of the sort is mentioned for werewolves, but then the author can't seem to decide if they're undead or not.
* In Creator/MCAHogarth's ''Literature/{{Paradox}}'' series the Eldritch live for over a thousand years, but due to complications with their genetic engineering and inbreeding their fertility rate is dropping. Jahir's mother was noteworthy for bearing two children.

* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''Literature/ProsperosDaughter'' trilogy, since the immortality comes from an external source, they are fertile and most have had dozens of children. But the source is not extended to the children or spouses, and so some swore off it.
* In Mickey Zucker Reichert's ''[[Literature/TheLastOfTheRenshai The Renshai Trilogy]]'' and its sequel ''The Renshai Chronicles'', it's remarked that the Norse Gods are ''almost'' completely infertile, and that many of them had a human parent. In the second trilogy, the life cycle of Elves becomes an important plot point: a new elven child can only be born if one of the currently existing elves dies (freeing their soul for {{reincarnation}}), so the Elven population can never grow beyond its current numbers. Furthermore, the elf needs to have died of natural causes -- any violent death ''permanently'' reduces the maximum elven population.
** [[spoiler:There's a [[HalfHumanHybrid way around]] that limitation.]]
* Literature/TheShadowhunterChronicles:

* Used in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Strata}}'', in which the universal currency is a life-extension treatment. One of the main characters, who is several centuries old, wonders what life would have been like had she been a "short-lifer" and thus able to have children.

* Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' series: as the books themselves comment on, the immortal lords of multiverse have been around for millennia, but are not particularly fertile: the first book is ''Nine Princes In Amber'', not ''Nine Hundred Thousand Princes In Amber''. That said, several bastard children of the Princes come up in the first series, and the sequel series features several more. There are also references to several older princes who died "For the good of Amber" after becoming too ambitious or otherwise falling out with their father King Oberon, which also helped in keeping the number of princes and princesses to a minimum.

* Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' series: as the books themselves comment on, the immortal lords of multiverse have been around for millennia, but are not particularly fertile: the first book is ''Nine Princes In Amber'', not ''Nine Hundred Thousand Princes In Amber''. There is reference to several older princes who died "For the good of Amber" though.

* In ''LightNovel/SundayWithoutGod'', when people lost the ability to die due to God abandoning the world, they also lost the ability to give birth. As pointed out in-series, this makes Ai's existence even more perplexing, as she was born three years ''after'' God had abandoned the world.

* "Magic-born people" in ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'' can breed but usually don't because their immortality removes the need to leave descendants.

* In the ''Manga/MetroidManga'' manga it's mentioned that the Chozo are slowly becoming extinct because their lengthened lifespan also made them very infertile.

* WordOfGod (pun intended) has this as being the demographic issue with the angels in ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'' -- "angelic females simply are not very fertile and the chance of conception is extremely low," so the reason for the war being fought on Earth is to put off or prevent any human incursion into Heaven. Whereas the daemons tended to be [[KillEmAll killed ''en masse'']] in generally horrible ways during the [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp War]], their birth rate will allow them to eventually recover, whereas angels dying off in those numbers might actually cause them to go extinct.

** The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampyres]] avert this trope with severe consequences -- [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome they've overpopulated Morytania and are running out of prey]].

* ''LightNovel/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'': LongLived races (mainly elves, dragons, and the two races of {{Draconic Humanoid}}s descending from the latter) are stated to be less readily fertile than shorter-lived humans and beastmen. Souma considers this in volume 6 when he propositions his second fiancee Aisha, a dark elf, noting in his InternalMonologue that her infertility compared to his TopWife Liscia would mean there's little risk of Aisha getting pregnant ahead of Liscia and [[SuccessionCrisis fouling up the order of succession]], though Aisha turns him down anyway out of respect for Liscia. [[spoiler:It turns out in the next book they needn't have worried, because Liscia has already conceived by this point.]]

* Averted in ''LightNovel/FullClearingAnotherWorldUnderAGoddessWithZeroBelievers''. Elves have a life expectancy 5 times as long as humans but are just as fertile. One of the main characters is the descendant of a legendary elven hero who married over 50 women and fathered hundreds of children. Even Lucy has over 50 siblings through her elven mother.

* In ''Series/{{Forever}}'', Henry doesn't appear to have any children of his own, not for the lack of trying. He adopted Abe as a baby after finding him in Auschwitz after the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII war]]. In fact, Abe later finds out that they are, in fact, related, as Abe is descended from Henry's uncle.

* Huey Laforet in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' procreated after becoming immortal [[ForScience just to see if this applied]]. His daughter doesn't inherit his immortality.

* Pure-Blooded Devils in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' are implied to have 10,000 year lifespans, and proportionately low fertility. After the GreatOffscreenWar caused a severe depopulation, with the [[Literature/ArsGoetia 72]] former great houses being reduced to ''three'' and remnants, this has become a serious problem. As of the start of the series, even high-ranking devils of the remaining noble houses are recruiting from humans they personally reincarnate, just to get their numbers back up and stabilize the population. Things have gotten so desperate for the devils that it's stated point-blank (in the novels, at least) that FantasticRacism has been ''marginalized'' by how dire the situation is, and even the proudest pure-blooded houses consider blood purity secondary to just surviving. The few who strictly stick to creating pure-blooded peerages are considered shortsighted and selfish by most of the population. On the other hand, StarterVillain Riser is able to strongarm the entire Gremory house into giving him Rias in an arranged marriage none of them support just by saying it's to preserve the Pure Devil race.[[note]]His exact motivations vary by adaption; in the original LightNovel, he did want the marriage for the purity and pride of the race and being married to drop-dead-gorgeous Rias was just a bonus, in the anime it's [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty the other way around]].[[/note]]
* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'': Here, the gods don't have parents or siblings. They have always existed and cannot have children with each other or with mortals.

* A rare subversion of this trope for Elves is in the manga / light novel series 'Nidome no Jinsei wo Isekai de'. Here Elves are extremely long-lived AND just as fertile as humans. The Elven King (who's been around for a few centuries) is noted to have over 150 children, which makes the royal succession a nightmare.
** Another subversion is 'Clearing an Isekai with the Zero-Believers Goddess'. Elves have a life expectancy 5 times as long as humans but are just as fertile. One of the main characters is the descendant of a legendary elven hero who married over 50 women and fathered hundreds of children. Even Lucy has over 50 siblings through her elven mother.

* ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'':
** Elves are extremely long-lived but only have enough population to fill a single HiddenElfVillage. While they occasionally interbreed with humans, the resulting children are always exiled on adulthood. [[spoiler:This small population is only stable because a large number of elves are clones of Potimas and humans he abducted and forcibly evolved into elves]].
** Demons have shorter lives than elves but slow birth rates. Their population has begun to decline in recent years as the birth rates had dropped even further due to near-famine conditions [[spoiler:and damage from the System. Most souls in the system are on the brink of soul collapse and thus cannot reincarnate, meaning less children are born. Human birth rates are also declining, but they have a larger initial population which masks the effect]].

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Mystery of the Emblem]]'' mentions that the event that caused dragons to assume Manakete form made them unable to give birth.

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun II'', the ancient lost civilization of Lemuria has a grand total of two children, both of whom comment on how lonely it is being surrounded by ancients. (Lemurians aren't strictly immortal, but they slow down their aging process to live many centuries.)

** In ''The Sims 3'' Vampires are no longer immortal (though they still live much longer then regular sims), and can have children at the same rate as ordinary Sims at least in theory although only half of their children with an ordinary Sim will be Vampires. Also, the Fairy Sims in the Supernatural expansion have the same lifespan as Vampires, and can likewise reproduce at the same rate as ordinary Sims. Both also age at the same rate as ordinary Sims until they reach adulthood.

When [[http://www.errantstory.com/2010-07-12/4871 Meji finally starts 'talking' with Senilus]], one of the things she learns is that the something went wrong when the 'gods' made one of the races; the race would lose the ability to reproduce itself after 427 generations. Since the first two races the 'gods' made weren't ''able'' to reproduce, and the last race made by the gods is generally agreed to be the trolls, it is very strongly indicated that the race in question is the elves. ''But'' they are still fertile with humans, since errant Meji is only 17, and errants can be very long-lived. The elves originally took advantage of this to increase their population, until one powerful errant mage went mad for some reason and went on a rampage. The elves thought it was an inherent problem with errants and forbade future errant births.

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

* The Enchanters in ''Webcomic/AtArmsLength'' are fully capable of having children at any time, but social norms tend to prevent this. Also, the biological clock normally doesn’t start ticking until a few millennia, eliminating the desire to have children for quite a while. Enchanters who have children while they’re still relatively young, or have more then one, are typically frowned upon.

** ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' notes this with regard to Asgardians (who are, in turn, more fertile than their technically immortal godly relatives, and significantly more fecund with human men and women - though even then, children aren't common). It also notes that those who take the Elixir of Life, such as Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, automatically become infertile as a result of the Elixir. [[spoiler: The Infinity Formula, on the other hand, subverts this trope]].

* Averted in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Wizards and other powerful magic users are [[AgeWithoutYouth very long-lived (they can be killed, but left to their own devices and otherwise unmolested, they'll go on for centuries),]] and they can reproduce. All [[spoiler: seven Carpenter children]] are the product of at least a sorcerer-level talent and [[spoiler: Maggie Dresden is the unexpected daughter of Harry (a full-blown member/wizard of the White Council)]]. Harry's mother [[spoiler:also had another son a mere five years before Harry.]] On the other hand, all of the examples above are from relatively young wizards-we don't know if wizards, like Muggles, become less fertile as they grow older.

** However, the descendants of wizards/sorcerors are rarely gifted, meaning their lifespan is that of a mortal. Of the [[spoiler: seven children born to Charity Carpenter, only Molly]] has shown any magical skill (although she has enough to be considered a true wizard).

[[folder:Comics]]

* Seems to be an EnforcedTrope among the Deep Ones in ''ComicBook/{{Providence}}''. [[GroinAttack Genital mutilation]] is a big part of the coming of age ritual of male Deep Ones, presumably as a measure to prevent overpopulation. [[ComicBook/NeoNomicon This practice has apparently fallen out of favor by the time the 21st century rolls around.]] [[FanDisservice Unfortunately]].

* In Creator/JRRTolkien's legendarium, [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]] are immortal and only have children infrequently; overpopulation isn't a problem, especially since most of them are leaving Middle-earth by ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings.'' In the stories set in the earliest time periods, though, there are frequently several generations of a single family living and ruling together. There is also the implication that having children can be very spiritually draining for elves, and that they get bored with sex over the centuries. In his notes at one point, Tolkien indicated that elves do not have children after a certain age. (So, menopause?) Also, Fëanor and Nerdanel had the most children that any elven couple ever had, whereas seven children would be, if anything, low for most fertile human couples if they both lived through the women's child-bearing years in most eras.

** PlayedWith: Ents live nearly forever, but all their women disappeared during the huge wars of the past, dooming them to eventually extinction.

* In ''Literature/TheFolkOfTheAir'' series, faeries have an incredibly low birth rate and most households are happy to have one child ever. The current king having six children/potential heirs is almost considered to be vulgar. Characters also comment that despite hte FantasticRacism faeries have towards humans, having [[MarsNeedsWomen human wives/consorts]] and [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human children]] in the the family strengthens bloodlines and is why faeries havent gone extinct.

** One notable exception exists, as [[spoiler:Saul Tigh]] impregnated Caprica Six, but [[spoiler: did not survive to term.]] It's all but implied that the only reason it worked at all is because the father wasn't an ordinary Cylon to begin with.

** In the episode "[[http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/2010_(episode) 2010]]" the Aschen weaponized this trope. After making contact with Earth they offered a treatment that would cure all diseases and drastically (though not infinitely) extend human lifetimes. After everybody on the planet got the treatment, SG-1 found out that it had a component not in the original formula; it caused sterility and would lead to the extinction of 90% of humanity. This was that civilization's way of taking over planets without a fight, just a bit of patience. Fortunately, the main characters were able to cook up some time travel gimmick to warn their past selves to not allow this to happen.

* Averted with amoebae, and other single celled organisms that reproduce by binary fission. When you split in half (as opposed to budding off a daughter cell), you can consider both resulting amoebae to be an extension of the life of the parent. In short, every single amoeba on the planet is the very first amoeba. They're immortal and reproduce like crazy. Good thing they're fairly low on the food chain, so their hypothetical immortality isn't much of a problem.

* Because human oocytes (eggs) are produced by a woman's ovaries before she, herself, is born, an immortal woman's capacity for natural reproduction would inevitably expire when her supply runs out, even if she never goes through menopause (assuming the science at some point won't be able to reboot the ova production mechanism, of course). She could, however, give birth to a baby conceived ''in vitro'' from a donor egg.
** This has [[ScienceMarchesOn recently]] been {{Jossed}} by [[http://www.nature.com/news/egg-making-stem-cells-found-in-adult-ovaries-1.10121 the discovery of egg-producing stem cells]] (so-called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oogonium#Oogonial_stem_cells oogonial stem cells]]) in adult women's ovaries. Regardless of this, menopause obviously still renders women infertile.
** There are also services now that preserve a woman's eggs in case she doesn't have a baby before menopause. This is the same as the process mentioned above with the only difference is that it's still her own baby.

** Warlocks are much like vampires in that they will live forever if nobody kills them but are unable to breed. The only exception is Tessa Gray, because her mother is a Shadowhunter, which negates her demonic blood and allows her to procreate, but her children are mortals and therefore always outlive her. Tessa technically can have as many children as she wants, but, [[OutlivingOnesOffspring for understandable reasons]], she has only given birth to three so far.

* In ''Series/NewAmsterdam'', John Amsterdam has had several children, who, unlike him, are mortal. One of these children, Omar, looks older than John himself, and knows about John's immortality. One episode shows that John keeps records of his descendants, so he can keep track of them and [[SurpriseIncest avoid dating female descendants]]. Both Omar and an elderly female descendant shown in a flashback where John is secretly dating Omar's mother are upset when John tells them that he still hasn't found his soulmate. Of course, what John means is the one woman who would cause his "curse" of immortality to end.

* The eponymous Roleplay/AHDotComEternals can have children normally both with ephemerals and other eternals. The vast majority of these children are completely mortal though. The character of Gregorios, for example has had more than 160 children over the course of his lifetime, and only one other has proved to be an immortal so far.
* [[http://writersworkshop.wikia.com/wiki/Controlling_Populations_of_Immortals Dissected (and arguably deconstructed)]] by the Writerium (and its successor the Writer's Workshop).

* In ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'', this trope exists as a universal law of the world. However, it doesn't directly prevent the immortal Long from having children – it works by instilling immortal parents with an inescapable compulsion to devour their own children.