All it takes is one night of fun and two lines on a test and, surprise, she’s pregnant!
Whether you call it unplanned, accidental, or unexpected, a surprise bun in the oven is a romance trope that dedicated romance readers have strong opinions about, both for and against.
While other tropes are growing in power thanks to BookTok, the stories of navigating unintentional motherhood, often with a complete stranger, have stayed mostly under the radar in terms of niches.
Does this potentially mean it is in danger of dying out? And what do the lovers of the trope think will bring people in?
Well, firstly, let’s not get this trope confused with secret pregnancy.
The often confused secret pregnancy trope sees a woman returning years later to admit she had a baby with a man who never knew. Or, even more contentious, the baby is fully grown and now the one turning up on his doorstep out of the blue. It’s understandable why this would be a contentious trope, involving deception that most people, understandably, couldn’t see themselves coming back from; the motives have to be deeply cemented otherwise it will make the protagonists past decisions irredeemable.
So while secret pregnancy falls down the list of favourite tropes, a surprise pregnancy plays in a very different direction.
“Most of the dynamics in these books come from one night stands; sometimes with someone the heroine might not even know the full name of, just to bring in an extra dimension for drama,” explained Gwen Boughey-Wild, a romance writer of over a decade.
“It was only when I was writing my second surprise pregnancy romance that I realised this was a trope readers either devoured or avoided. I’d grown a deep love for it as it naturally emerged as part of the protagonist’s stories to show them what they were missing. It’s still bizarre that this trope hasn’t grown as attitudes to unplanned pregnancies have changed.”
And there have certainly been many changes that writers may have hoped to increase the popularity of this trope, as well as how the drama and stigma is framed within it.
In reality, of all of the things that happen in romance novels, this is not uncommon.
Birth control fails. People make mistakes. The unexpected does surprise you – with an ex, a situationship, or a stranger.
If anything, one night stands are far more acceptable now. 68% of women and 72% on men have reported a one night stand in their lifetime, according to World Metrics, with 55% of encounters involving alcohol. With such acceptance as a universal experience, there is less stigma than ever to fuel the dislike of these story lines.
It’s also more accepted that there isn’t one way to raise and love a baby.
And now that single parenthood, planned and unplanned, or unexpected pregnancy are more commonplace, the form of tension in the novels are changing.
Yes, it is still heavily reliant on how two people will navigate their relationship around a life-changing situation with a fast approaching deadline, but now it is no longer about getting married and figuring it out from there. Instead there are more ways than ever for them to navigate how they will do this together and where they will try to keep their distance.
This could seem like a place of comfort for those readers who have experienced similar situations, but it has even further reaches.
Usually pregnancies are reserved for the happily ever after – seeing it only in the epilogue or perhaps in passing if there is another book in the series. However, there seems to be something attractive to readers about the prospect of following a woman through her pregnancy.
Romance reader and blogger HEA Novel Thoughts admitted that there was something comforting about watching a character go through the process while she was also pregnant, even admitting that 95% of her eBook searches contained the word pregnancy.
“Pregnancy changes the game,” said Gwen Boughey-Wild. “It puts a deadline on getting their life together, not just forcing them to change for the other person but for a whole new way of life. It can show the readers the ultimate character transformation of both the mother through her pregnancy journey and the father. Watching a hero turn into a protector can be attractive, even when it might not even be his child.”
This is a reminder that the stigma of the past lead to different dynamics for this trope. The most common variation featured a man taking in a (sometimes heavily) pregnant woman, and having to decide how deeply he was going to let this change his life. The heroine would often be pregnant by a married man who had deceived her, a far more acceptable stigma for previous generations than a mysterious one-night stand.
There is also a chance to indulge in a love triangle, where the baby’s father may be currently unknown or where the man she’s always loved (or who has always loved her) steps up when the biological father can’t or won’t.
So while this trope may have many twists and turns in its committed niche readership, it’s nice to see tropes which make up the middle of the controversial trope scale, the place between the universally loved enemies-to-lovers at one end and the darker tropes for the fully initiated at the other.
Looking to dip your toe into these life-changing waters? Try these heroines and heroes who had some decisions to make and babies to raise:
- Chasing her Fire by Claire Kingsley – an enemies-to-lovers surprise baby romance with protagonists who quickly find out it only takes on night
- Bridget Jones’ Baby by Helen Fielding – not your traditional romance novel but an emotional and funny love triangle.
If the thought of pregnancy on the page isn’t for you, why not check out our previous trope deep dives which include the much loved enemies-to-lovers and dreamy small town romances. Next time we’ll be exploring if Gen Z can keep the sibling best friend trope alive.
Words by Gemma-Louise Walsh
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