History Main / ContraceptionDeception

DontTryThisAtHome. Lying about using contraception and then having sex with someone who would not otherwise consent to have sex is considered rape-by-fraud in some jurisdictions. Besides the legal matters, conning someone into having a child they don't want or aren't ready for can seriously screw up both their lives and that of the resulting child. In real life, people thrust into parenthood against their will don't always transform into loving and competent parents the way they do in fiction. Even if they don't become outright abusive, they may end up just going through the motions, trying to emulate what is expected of them but failing to meet the child's emotional needs while their own mental health deteriorates.

Contraception Deception is when one partner lies about their reproductive status in order to have sex with the other partner. It comes in three varieties:
* '''Claiming Sterility''': One partner insists that there's no need for contraception because they're unable to impregnate or be impregnated. A male might claim he's had a vasectomy or suffered some illness/injury (such as testicular cancer) that left him capable of sex but sterile. A female could claim to have gotten a tubal ligation or hysterectomy, or simply say she's on a contraceptive implant or the pill. Either way, the other partner freely engages in what should be consequence-free sex -- no kid can result, it's just for fun. And then the woman's pregnancy test is positive. Depending on the exact setup, this can result in TheBabyTrap.

* '''Sabotaging Contraception''': The partner who wants a child takes an active role in ensuring their partner's contraception fails. The classic example is poking holes in a condom, though most condom failures are obvious enough that the guy really ''should'' notice. If the male is the one wanting children, he can either slip the woman something that interferes with hormonal birth control or steal her pills (possibly replacing them with placebos). This is another way to set up TheBabyTrap. It's also a way to establish the saboteur as a {{jerkass}}, and in RealLife is one way domestic abusers maintain control over their victims. Another scenario is slipping off the condom partway through intercourse, though this is usually done more to increase sexual pleasure, rather than to purposely try to get their partner pregnant. If the woman is the one sabotaging the contraception, an even {{squick}}ier method may be to inseminate herself with the contents of the used condom.

One character who might do this is the StalkerWithATestTube. Subtrope of SurprisePregnancy. Compare ButWeUsedACondom when safe sex practices simply fail, and ButICantBePregnant when the woman was thought to be infertile.

* '''Sabotaging Contraception''': The partner who wants a child takes an active role in ensuring their partner's contraception fails. The classic example is poking holes in a condom, though most condom failures are obvious enough that the guy really ''should'' notice. If the male is the one wanting children, he can either slip the woman something that interferes with hormonal birth control or steal her pills (possibly replacing them with placebos). This is another way to set up TheBabyTrap. It's also a way to establish the saboteur as a jerkass, and in RealLife is one way domestic abusers maintain control over their victims. Another scenario is slipping off the condom partway through intercourse, though this is usually done more to increase sexual pleasure, rather than to purposely try to get their partner pregnant.

Subtrope of SurprisePregnancy. Compare ButWeUsedACondom when safe sex practices simply fail, and ButICantBePregnant when the woman was thought to be infertile.

* ''A Company of Stars'', the first ''Starship Troupers'' novel by Christopher Stasheff, opens with the narrator escaping a ShotgunWedding, and he notes that while he doesn't know ''exactly'' what the girl he was with did, the setting has so many types of contraceptive pill that it is ''literally impossible'' to get pregnant by accident, and she must have taken something that counteracted ''his'' pill.

* In Film/{{Parenthood}}, Susan pokes holes in her diaphragms to get preganant.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', cousins Bobby and Luanne become engaged in an EscalatingWar with pranks, and Bobby ends up replacing some of Luanne's birth control pills with Sweet Tarts. Fortunately, she notices immediately, but then escalates it with the help of Hank and Peggy, who convince Bobby that his sabotage led to her getting pregnant, and [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe therefore he must marry her]].

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', cousins Bobby and Luanne become engaged in a PrankWar, and Bobby ends up replacing some of Luanne's birth control pills with Sweet Tarts. Fortunately, she notices immediately, but then escalates it with the help of Hank and Peggy, who convince Bobby that his sabotage led to her getting pregnant, and therefore he must marry her.

* Subverted in ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', Bates and his wife Anna agree to try to have children, but after some time passes, Anna is still not pregnant. Then Bates finds contraception pills in Anna's stuff. This leads him to believe that she is sabotaging their attempts to have children. It turns out that she is not. The contraception pills are for her employer Lady Mary who is sleeping with Anthony Gillingham but doesn't want any extra-marital children.

* ''A Company of Stars'', the first ''Starship Troupers'' novel by Christopher Stasheff, the narrator is escaping a ShotgunWedding, and notes that while he doesn't know ''exactly'' what the girl he was with did, the setting has so many types of contraceptive pill that it is ''literally impossible'' to get pregnant by accident, and she must have taken something that counteracted ''his'' pill.

* ''A Company of Stars'', the first ''Starship Troupers'' novel by Christopher Stasheff, the narrator is escaping a ShotgunMarriage, and notes that while he doesn't know ''exactly'' what the girl he was with did, the setting has so many types of contraceptive pill that it is ''literally impossible'' to get pregnant by accident, and she must have taken something that counteracted ''his'' pill.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan Smith is alarmed to find out his wife wants another baby. He books himself in for a vasectomy, without mentioning this to Francine, and she is utterly betrayed and angry when she finds out.

* Accidentally done in a PoorCommunicationKills way in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Apparently during the one night stand that sired Trunks, Bulma asked Vegeta if he was a wearing protection and he affirmed that he was. Turns out said "protection" was his Saiyan Armor, not a condom.

* '''Claiming Sterility''': One partner insists that there's no need for contraception because they're unable to impregnate or be impregnated. A male might claim he's had a vasectomy, or suffered some illness/injury (such as testicular cancer) that left him capable of sex but sterile. A female could claim to have gotten a tubal ligation or hysterectomy, or simply say she's on a contraceptive implant or the pill. Either way, the other partner freely engages in what should be consequence-free sex -- no kid can result, it's just for fun. And then the woman's pregnancy test is positive. Depending on the exact setup, this can result in TheBabyTrap.
* '''Claiming Fertility''': One partner wants a child, the other doesn't but for some reason can't just tell the other one so. Instead the no-child partner continues having sex, but takes private precautions to ensure no child results. A man might come up with an excuse to "go out of town for a few days" but instead use that time to get a vasectomy. The woman might find someplace she can hide a stash of birth control pills from her partner.

DontTryThisAtHome. Lying about using contraception and then having sex with someone who would not otherwise consent to have sex is considered rape-by-fraud in some jurisdictions. Besides the legal matters, conning someone into having a child they don't want or aren't ready for can seriously screw up both their life and that of the resulting child. In real life, people thrust into parenthood against their will don't always transform into loving and competent parents the way they do in fiction. Even if they don't become outright abusive, they may end up just going through the motions, trying to emulate what is expected of them but failing to meet the child's emotional needs while their own mental health deteriorates.

* In ''Series/AboutABoy'': Andy thinks Laurie is pregnant, since she's showing all the usual signs. It turns out Andy never got the vasectomy Will badgered him not to get - then "faked" a vasectomy for Laurie's benefit.

* Averted on ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Terry's wife wants him to get a vasectomy, and he agrees, but spills to Jake that he doesn't want to because he still wants children. He does come clean to his wife, who's cool with it.

* Subverted in ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', Bates and his wife Anna agree to try to have children, but after some time passes, Anna is still not pregnant. Then Bates finds contraception pills in Anna's stuff. This leads him to believe that she is sabotaging their attempts to have children. It turns out that she is not. The contraception pills are for her employer Lady Mary who is sleeping with Anthony Gillingham, but doesn't want any extra-marital children.
* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', when Sookie is in the hospital giving birth to her second child with Jackson, she demands he have a vasectomy on the spot. Later in the series it turns out he lied about getting it. This was a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, as Creator/MelissaMcCarthy was expecting and the producers didn't want to engage in any HideYourPregnancy antics; as a result, Sookie and Jackson add a third child to their brood.

* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Whilst trying to figure out who got Dee pregnant, [[BoisterousWeakling Mac]] and [[ChaoticStupid Charlie]] interview all the men she slept with in that time frame, including [[FatBastard Bill Ponderosa]]. Bill reveals that it could be him as he lies to every women he sleeps with that he had a vasectomy simply because he doesn't like wearing condoms. Whilst Bill finds it hilarious [[EvenEvilHasStandards it causes Mac and Charlie to stare at him in utter disgust]].

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': "Bang" involves a high-powered businessman (Creator/JohnStamos) who is a "reproductive abuser", meaning he purposefully lies about using birth control and pokes holes in condoms in order to impregnate as many women as possible. He convinces his partners to get pregnant, while cheating with multiple women and getting them pregnant. [[spoiler:He gets killed because a domestic violence activist believes that ThereShouldBeALaw.]]

** Zig-zagged over a multi-episode plotline. After being incredibly relieved his ex-wife Jordan is not pregnant again, Dr. Cox gets a vasectomy without telling her. After a heartwarming speech about how she might want more kids someday, he has it reversed, again without mentioning it to her. After some SpottingTheThread on his attempts to explain away two surgeries, she and Cox have a heart-to-heart, and decide they don't want more kids and Dr. Cox should get the vasectomy. Again. [[spoiler:[[{{Irony}} This one is botched, and Jordan gets pregnant again next season.]]]]

* A variation in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''; after Santa's Little Helper had puppies with Dr. Hibbert's dog, Homer reveals that Homer didn't have the heart to get him neutered.

DontTryThisAtHome. Lying about using contraception and then having sex with someone who would not otherwise consent to have sex might be considered rape-by-fraud in some jurisdictions. Besides the legal matters, conning someone into having a child they don't want or aren't ready for can seriously screw up both their life and that of the resulting child. In real life, people thrust into parenthood against their will don't always transform into loving and competent parents the way they do in fiction. Even if they don't become outright abusive, they may end up just going through the motions, trying to emulate what is expected of them but failing to meet the child's emotional needs while their own mental health deteriorates.

* There was a Series/{{House}} episode where the Big Secret was that the wife and husband were both trying for kids, except the wife didn't actually want them so she was taking contraceptives without him knowing about it.

Claiming Sterility: One partner insists that there's no need for contraception because they're unable to impregnate or be impregnated. A male might claim he's had a vasectomy, or suffered some illness/injury (such as testicular cancer) that left him capable of sex but sterile. A female could claim to have gotten a tubal ligation or hysterectomy, or simply say she's on a contraceptive implant or the pill.
Either way, the other partner freely engages in what should be consequence-free sex -- no kid can result, it's just for fun. And then the woman's pregnancy test is positive. Depending on the exact setup, this can result in TheBabyTrap.

Claiming Fertility: One partner wants a child, the other doesn't but for some reason can't just tell the other one so. Instead the no-child partner continues having sex, but takes private precautions to ensure no child results. A man might come up with an excuse to "go out of town for a few days" but instead use that time to get a vasectomy. The woman might find someplace she can hide a stash of birth control pills from her partner.

Sabotaging Contraception: The partner who wants a child takes an active role in ensuring their partner's contraception fails. The classic example is poking holes in a condom, though most condom failures are obvious enough that the guy really ''should'' notice. If the male is the one wanting children, he can either slip the woman something that interferes with hormonal birth control or steal her pills (possibly replacing them with placebos). This is another way to set up TheBabyTrap. It's also a way to establish the saboteur as a jerkass, and in RealLife is one way domestic abusers maintain control over their victims. Another scenario is slipping off the condom partway through intercourse, though this is usually done more to increase sexual pleasure, rather than to purposely try to get their partner pregnant.

* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. When Sookie is in the hospital giving birth to their second child, she demands that Jackson has a vasectomy done on the spot. Though he seems to go through with it, later in the series it turns out he lied about getting the vasectomy, and Sookie ends up pregnant again. This was a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, as Sookie's actress had become pregnant and the producers didn't want to engage in any HideYourPregnancy antics.

* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. When Sookie is in the hospital giving birth to their second child, she demands that Jackson has a vasectomy done on the spot. He doesn't go through with it, and they end up with a third child.

** In Season 3,Edie and Carlos agree that they'll try for a baby, but Edie continues taking birth control pills. When Carlos finds out, he breaks up with Edie.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fanfic ''[[https://ficbook.net/readfic/3759552 Too Weak]]'', Sandor Clegane, ordered by Joffrey to marry Sansa, regularly gives moon tea (the FantasyContraception herbal drink) to his wife without telling her what it is. Downplayed, since he never thinks of actually deceiving her: he simply assumes she wouldn't want children. However, there is the fact that he never raises the matter with her until she accidentally finds it out and confronts him.