The Best-Kept Secrets About All Your Favorite TV Pregnancies

It’s not very surprising for TV shows to throw in one of two pregnancy plotlines throughout a series if the storyline lends itself to it. Sometimes, the show’s writers have been planning for a character to become pregnant since season one. Other times, a lead actress’ personal pregnancy will force the writers to squeeze it into the show.

Either these women were on their feet all day acting while pregnant, or they managed to convince us that they were carrying a child when they weren’t. Some of these TV pregnancies are real, and some are fake, but they all prove that these actresses deserve an Emmy.

Lucile Ball Had The First Ever Real On-Screen Pregnancy

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I Love Lucy was groundbreaking in many ways, but mostly because it was the first show with a pregnancy storyline. After Lucille Ball got pregnant, they wrote it into the show, but with some strict guidelines.

Lucy was allowed to be visibly pregnant, but they couldn’t say the word, have no signs of labor, and she still couldn’t sleep in the same bed as her TV husband.

Mindy Kaling Thought It Would Be Funny To Have Her OB-GYN Character Get Knocked Up

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Mindy Kaling recently made headlines for getting pregnant in real life and not telling anyone who the father is. One season before her real-life pregnancy, her TV character got pregnant also.

Her character did tell us the father though. It was her boyfriend and fellow OB-GYN, Danny. Kaling thought it would be ironic to have two OB-GYN’s have an unexpected pregnancy.

Emily Deschanel’s Pregnancy Sped Up The Plotline Of Bones

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When Deschanel became pregnant during season seven of Bones, her character Brannan was forced to speed up her relationship with Booth. Fans of the show weren’t happy about how quick they got together, but it all worked out in the end.

After the birth of her daughter, the two characters got married, which made it easier to incorporate Deschanel’s second pregnancy in season twelve.

Katey Sagal’s Real-Life Pregnancy Had To Be Written In And Out Of TV

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When Sagal got pregnant in real life, the writers of Married… With Children had no problem writing it into the storyline. Sadly, Sagal gave birth six weeks early, and the child was stillborn. To pay their respects, the writers took out the child on TV by claiming it was all a bad dream.

The next TV show found a spooky way to include their star’s pregnancy.

The X-Files Found The Weirdest Way To Write Gillian Anderson’s Pregnancy In

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Anderson announced she was pregnant towards the end of season one of The X-Files, and rather than hiding her baby belly, the writers made her character Scully get abducted by aliens and artificially inseminated.

This led to one of the most iconic scenes, where the audience got to watch Scully’s stomach get blown up like a balloon.

Murphy Brown‘s Pregnancy Caused A Lot Of Backlash

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Murphy Brown was a show about a single woman in her 40s getting a career back, so it was already miles ahead of its time. To keep breaking barriers, they had Candice Bergen’s character become pregnant and raise the child on her own. It caused a lot of controversy and people called for the show to be canceled.

Keep reading to see how the writers of a sitcom gave a subtle nod to their lead actress’ pregnancy.

Marcia Cross Was Really Pregnant, But Her Character Was Faking It

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When Cross told the producers of Desperate Housewives that she was pregnant, they had no idea how to incorporate it into the storyline. Thankfully, Cross’ character on the show was crazy, so they had a lot of options.

The writers ended up having Cross’ character fake being pregnant to raise her teenage daughter’s child. It looked realistic because Cross had a real-life baby belly.

We Wish Sarah Wayne Callie’s Character Wasn’t Pregnant Either

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We can all agree that Lori getting pregnant in the middle of a zombie apocalypse on The Walking Dead was a stupid idea. But we can’t blame the actress who played her because Callie was never pregnant.

Nope, this was entirely the fault of the comic books.

The Producers For How I Met Your Mother Gave A Subtle Nod To Alyson Hannigan’s Pregnancy

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Alyson Hannigan was pregnant twice during the filming of How I Met Your Mother. The second time, the producers wrote it into the show, but the first time, it didn’t fit with the storyline. As a subtle nod to her pregnancy, they did show off Hannigan’s baby belly at the end of a hot-dog eating contest scene.

Keep reading to see how two different shows had both real and fake pregnancies.

Angela’s On-Screen Pregnancy Was Fake, And They Later Hid Her Real One

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Angela Kinsey, who played Angela Martin on The Office, became pregnant during season four of the show, but they hid the pregnancy. Fast-forward to season eight, and her character becomes pregnant, but Kinsey had to fake it.

Of course, since it’s The Office, they jokingly made it very obvious that they were hiding her pregnancy in season four, and put her fake pregnancy front and center in season eight.

But The Producers Were Quick To Accept Jenna Fischer’s Real-Life Pregnancy

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On the flip side, when actress Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam Beasley, became pregnant in season eight, they quickly wrote it into the storyline. Pam already had one child, so adding a second was no big deal.

Having two characters pregnant at once allowed the writers to make Jenna and Angela engage in friendly competition throughout the season.

The Producers Thought It Would Be Fun To Write In Lisa Kudrow’s Pregnancy In A Wacky Way

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Lisa Kudrow became pregnant with her only child in 1997, and rather than hide the pregnancy, the writers for Friends tried to think up the strangest excuse possible for Kudrow’s character. They landed on Phoebe become a surrogate for her half-brother Frank.

Kudrow only had one child, but her character had triplets, so they had to add extra padding on the show to make her stomach large enough.

Jennifer Aniston Has Never Been Pregnant Except For In Friends

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Phoebe wasn’t the only pregnant character on the show. While Monica couldn’t get pregnant, Rachel unexpectedly became a mother of Ross’ child during season eight. The pregnancy was faked though since Jennifer Aniston is still yet to have a kid in real life.

Keep reading to see if this Game Of Thrones star was actually pregnant.

Thanks To Already Being A Mom, Sofia Vergara Faked Her Pregnancy Flawlessly

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The big plot twist at the end of season three of Modern Family was for Sofia Vergara’s character to become pregnant, but Vergara herself was not.

Vergara is already a mother after she got married to her high school sweetheart and had one child in Columbia. Her expert acting wasn’t exactly acting.

Two Of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stars Became Pregnant, But Only One Was Written Into The Show

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Chelsea Peretti and Melissa Fumero were both pregnant during the filming of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but the writers chose only to keep one in the show. Peretti’s character Gina was revealed to be pregnant halfway through season four and people were shocked to find out Milton Boyle was the father.

Fumero’s pregnancy was left out, but her character went undercover as a pregnant woman in a female prison so Fumero could show off her bump.

Thankfully, Emily Clarke’s Game Of Thrones Pregnancy Didn’t Mirror Real LIfe

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Emilia Clarke, aka Daenerys, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, was a mother to a child early in Game of Thrones, but both her child and her husband are killed. Clarke was not actually pregnant, because George R.R. Martin wrote this storyline for the books.

Continue reading to see which actress’ pregnancy helped move along a TV show’s plotline.

Molly Ringwald Became Pregnant With Twins After Her TV-Daughter Was Pregnant

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The Secret Life Of An American Teenager was a whirlwind of a show, where teenage girl Amy becomes pregnant at age 15. Ringwald played Amy’s mother and found out before season two that she was pregnant as well.

Rather than hide the pregnancy, the show wrote it in so that the family was dealing with two newborns.

Bellamy Young’s Character Became Pregnant To Hide A Scandal

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Bellamy Young’s character forced her husband, the President of the United States, to impregnate her after a videotape was leaked to the press that shows him and his mistress. She figured a child would prove that their marriage is as strong as ever.

It sounds like a plotline that was made up on the fly after a real-life pregnancy, but it’s the exact opposite. Young wasn’t really pregnant when her character Mellie Grant pulled this major power move in Scandal.

Sex And The City Used Cynthia Nixon’s Pregnancy To Get Her Character To Settle Down

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Nixon’s real-life pregnancy helped the Sex And The City writers finally have a reason to force her character to settle down. When Nixon became pregnant, her character Miranda also had a baby with her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Steve.

After they had their child, the two got married, and finally, Miranda was no longer a single 40-something in New York City.

Even Though Ellen Pompeo Has Three Kids Of Her Own, She Had To Fake Being Pregnant On Grey’s Anatomy

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Shonda Rhimes hid all three of actress Ellen Pompeo’s pregnancy during Grey’s Anatomy. Pompeo would have to wear extra large scrubs and hide behind clipboards.

Finally, when her character Meredith was destinated to have a child with husband Derek Shepard, Pompeo had to fake it. At least she had a lot of practice by then.

Courtney Cox Hid Her Baby Bump During The Final Season Of Friends

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Friends is one of the most iconic television shows of all-time. Rachel and Phoebe got pregnant on the show, but Monica was written as infertile for a heart-breaking storyline with on-screen husband Chandler. Courtney Cox had no complications getting pregnant in real life, though.

As the show aired its final season, Cox was pregnant for several episodes. The show tried to hide her baby bump, but their efforts weren’t always successful.

Kerry Washington Wore Large Jackets To Hide Her Pregnancy

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Kerry Washington’s character on Scandal wasn’t supposed to get pregnant, so when the actress showed up to set with a baby bump the producers had to think quickly to hide it.

The solution they agreed upon was one of the oldest in the book. The character began wearing large jackets to hide her pregnancy. The trick worked and the audience only knew if they followed the actress in the tabloids.

Parks And Rec Sped Up Production For Amy Poehler

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Amy Poehler’s character on Parks and Rec was too much of a career woman to be pregnant at the end of the second season. Poehler was pregnant at the time, however, so the crew sped up production on the third season to keep her belly hidden.

With the show already renewed for a third season when Poehler announced her pregnancy, the producers had the show shoot the first six episodes of season three directly after wrapping the second season.

Seinfeld Barely Hid Julia Louis Dreyfus’ Pregnancy

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Julia Louis Dreyfus was pregnant during the third season of Seinfeld, even her character Elaine was not. The show didn’t speed up production or put her in baggy clothes to hide anything. Instead, they hid her belly behind objects.

Sometimes she’d be carrying a laundry basket so you couldn’t see her stomach. Other times she’d be strategically standing behind furniture. Rewatch the third season and see how much you can catch!

Alias Wrote Jennifer Garner’s Pregnancy Into The Show

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Alias took a strange path to decide on including star Jennifer Garner’s pregnancy into the show. Initially, production went on a four-month hiatus, but the show was too popular to keep off the air, so the writers wrote gave her character a pregnancy storyline.

For an action show where Garner’s character was the lead, this couldn’t have been an easy decision.

Claire Danes Filmed Love Scenes While Pregnant

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Claire Danes didn’t tell anyone she was pregnant while filming the second season of Homeland for Showtime. She even filmed several love scenes for the show before her baby bump began showing.

She finally spilled the bean on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, saying she was in the first trimester and just kept telling everyone she felt rotten.

Cobie Smulders Was Pregnant At The Same Time As Alyson Hannigan

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Producers for How I Met Your Mother had a big problem on their hands when Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders were pregnant at the same time while shooting. Like with Hannigan, they hid Smulders the best they could, using bag clothes and hiding her behind objects.

The big concern was Smulders character on the show was infertile, so they needed to extra hard to hide to new belly from the world.

Grace Went Bye-Bye On Will And Grace

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The writers on Will and Grace took the easy way out when star Debra Messing was pregnant filming the show’s sixth season. Despite her playing Grace, she didn’t appear in five episodes to accomodate everyone.

It’s a pretty bold move to leave one of your shows title characters out of the series for five episodes but it worked. Will and Grace was revived on NBC in 2017 and is still going strong in 2018.

Breaking Bad Used The Best Angles

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Betsy Brandt played Skyler’s sister Marie on the show Breaking Bad. During the early seasons of the show, she became pregnant. The writers already had Skyler’s character pregnant on the show and didn’t want to have pregnancy plotlines so they did what they thought was the next best thing.

Along with using props to hide the bump, the film crew used the best camera angles to help hide the actress’s pregnancy. The high angle is always the most flattering!