To the majority of people, the idea of being a superhero may seem attractive. In reality, though, putting on a costume and fighting crime isn't easy. One of the biggest challenges that come from being a superhero is protecting the people around you. In comic books, the large majority of heroes often find themselves looking out not only for their own wellbeing, but also for their loved ones. One would think that the inherent professional risks stemming from a life of crime-fighting would discourage heroes or people related to them from wanting to start a family. Surprisingly, that hasn't been the case, because a large number of heroes have opted to take their chances and have children. Over the years, there have been numerous high-profile pregnancies in the comics, such as Jessica Jones', Sue Storm's, and Lois Lane's.
However, for every pregnancy that catches the attention of readers, there have been countless others that have slipped under fans' radars. It may be hard to believe, but there have been quite a few superhero pregnancies that have slowly faded into obscurity as the years have gone by. With that in mind, let's take a look at 15 comic book pregnancies that have been forgotten by fans:
15 GWEN STACY
During the mid-'00s, Marvel gave readers a shocking new perspective on Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker's love story. In the 'Sins Past' storyline, it was revealed that Gwen slept with Norman Osborn, got pregnant, and secretly gave birth to twins, Gabriel and Sarah, who aged remarkably fast. Realizing her mistake, Gwen planned to raise her children with Peter Parker. In response, Osborn killed Gwen, and took Sarah and Gabriel with him.
He raised the children in secret and instilled a deep hatred for Spider-Man in them. The two eventually became supervillains and vowed to destroy Peter Parker. Unsurprisingly, neither one of the siblings got a happy ending. Despite having popped up in a few comic books throughout the years, the twins mostly faded into obscurity and their story was all but abandoned. Their whole storyline was incredibly unsettling, so it's great to see that Marvel left it behind.
14 MEDUSA
Medusa is one of Marvel's most beloved superheroes. Given her stellar crime-fighting career, it may be easy to forget that the character isn't only a monarch and a superhero, but she's also a mother. Back in the '90s, Medusa gave birth to a baby boy named Ahura. Due to the fact that Ahura's conception defied the Inhuman genetic council, however, Black Bolt and Medusa were forced to hide their son on Earth.
Being raised away from home had a deep emotional impact on the boy, and it took him some time (and a great deal of work) to reconnect with Black Bolt and Medusa. While Ahura has been established as one of the most powerful Inhumans out there, and he's even taken part in some pivotal Inhumans storylines, he's been mostly overshadowed by his parents. Given that, it's understandable that not many fans are aware of the character's existence.
13 SPIDER-WOMAN
Throughout her comic book history, Spider-Woman (aka Jessica Drew), never seemed interested in having children. That changed in her 2016 solo series, where the character was revealed to be pregnant. Despite some initial hesitation from fans about seeing the hero having children, the storyline received considerable praise from the fan community, and the comic book itself turned out to be a great journey.
The story centered around Jessica checking into an alien hospital that was suddenly invaded by Skrull forces looking for a young prince. With no other heroes available to help her, Spider-Woman took it upon herself to protect the people inside the hospital, deliver her baby and defeat the invading Skrull army (in that order). Fortunately, Jessica's ordeal didn't prove to be detrimental to her pregnancy, because she gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Gerry.
12 HARLEY QUINN
Given her criminal life and affiliation with the Joker, it's tough to imagine Harley Quinn caring for a child. Surprisingly, as revealed in the Injustice comic books, everyone's favorite wildcard actually became a mother. Years before Joker's attack on Metropolis, Harley got into a fight with Black Canary. Realizing that Canary had morning sickness, Harley stopped fighting and revealed that she herself had given birth to a baby girl named Lucy.
As it turned out, Quinn managed to keep Lucy a mystery by dropping her off with her sister. Fortunately, the mother-daughter duo got a well-deserved happy ending. Some time after the defeat of Superman, Harley vowed to be a bigger presence in Lucy's life, and she started visiting her daughter on a regular basis. Given the fact that this story isn't canon outside the Injustice continuity, Harley's pregnancy probably slipped under the radar of even the most diehard readers.
11 JANE FOSTER
A little known fact about Jane Foster is that, years before becoming Thor, she became a mother. Back in the '60s, Jane distanced herself from Thor, and found love with a doctor named Keith Kincaid. The two got married, and Foster eventually gave birth to a son. Sadly, motherhood wouldn't be a lasting experience for her. A few years into their marriage, Foster and Kincaid divorced, and Kincaid got custody of their child.
Shortly after their divorce, Jane came across Mjolnir and became the new God of Thunder. Given her heroic exploits around the Marvel Universe, Jane's ex-husband and son faded into the background, and they were rarely (if ever) mentioned again, leaving fans to wonder what had happened to them. Unfortunately for Jane, her family didn't have a happy ending, as it was eventually revealed that both Kincaid and his son died in a car accident.
10 POWER GIRL
Power Girl is one of DC's most popular heroes, and she's had an illustrious superhero career throughout the years. Yet, despite the fact that she's fought monsters, demons and powerful villains on countless occasions, Power Girl's craziest adventure to date remains being a mother. During the '90s, the hero shocked her fellow Justice Leaguers with the revelation of her immaculate pregnancy. Following a long period of speculation, the baby's backstory was finally revealed by Power Girl's grandfather, Arion.
As it turned out, Arion, impregnated the hero with specially-crafted genes in hopes of creating the best warrior in the universe. Power Girl eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy, but to her dismay, the child grew up at a rapid pace and literally disappeared from existence. Given how bizarre this whole storyline was, it's probably for the best that most fans have forgotten about it.
9 ROGUE
Ever since her first appearance, Rogue has held quite a few titles. She's been a villain, an Avenger, a member of the X-Men, and as surprising as it may be, she's also been a mother -- albeit in an alternate reality. During the 2004 'The End' storyline, Marvel introduced an Earth dubbed "41001." In this continuity, Rogue and Gambit had two children, Olivier and Rebecca. Both inherited impressive mutant abilities, and proved to be just as powerful as their parents.
The four lived peacefully as part of the Lebeau clan. Sadly, their happiness came to an abrupt end after Rogue was killed by Mr. Sinister's forces. Olivier stopped speaking to his father as a result, and the Lebeau family was forever changed. This storyline is quite obscure (even among hardcore comic book readers) so you'd be forgiven for not remembering the fact that Rogue was a mom at one point.
8 MARTHA WAYNE'S SECOND SON
The New 52 made quite a few big changes to established DC characters. One of the most significant ones was adding a new picture to Bruce Wayne's family tree. During the "Court of Owls" storyline, a villain named Lincoln March boldly claimed to be Thomas Wayne Jr. -- Martha and Thomas Wayne's youngest son. According to the baddie, he was dropped off in an orphanage shortly after being born, and received constant visits from his mother.
Surprisingly, Batman confirmed his mother had a second pregnancy. As he recalled, however, Martha suffered a miscarriage after being in a car accident, and the Caped Crusader wrote off the claims as false. March's parentage was never clarified. However, given the sheer amount of evidence backing his story and the fact that even Batman was caught off-guard by the accuracy of March's details, it's easy to assume he was in fact Martha Wayne's secret child.
7 JANET VAN DYNE
During the late '90s, Marvel introduced a new Earth dubbed "982," a reality in which the company's most popular superheroes had grown old, and had been replaced by their children. In that new timeline, Janet van Dyne and Hank Pym tied the knot and had two children, Hope and Henry Pym. Sadly, unlike the offsprings of other superheroes like Spider-Man or Wolverine, Hope and Henry didn't follow in their parents' heroic footsteps.
Hank and Janet died nearly at the same time, and this took a toll on Hope's psyche. The young girl became obsessed with the newly-formed Avengers, as she felt they were an insult to her parents' memory and heroic endeavors. As a result, Hope and her brother became supervillains, and set their sights on destroying Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Fortunately, Henry had a change of heart in the end, and he ultimately helped the Avengers defeat his sister.
6 CATWOMAN
Throughout the years, Catwoman has been known as a fearless vigilante, antihero, and sometimes even as an all-out villain. For a brief while, she was also a doting mother. In 2006, Selina Kyle gave birth to a baby girl named Helena. At first, Selina hoped to live a normal life with her daughter, even passing on the Catwoman mantle to her longtime friend Holly Robinson so Gotham could be protected while she focused on being a mother.
Unfortunately for Selina and her baby, their mother-daughter relationship wasn't meant to last. Selina's past caught up to her, and she found herself unable to keep Helena safe. With no other options left, she decided to give the baby up for adoption. You would be forgiven for not remembering this storyline, given how it wasn't really followed up, and Helena became a faint memory for both comic book readers and Catwoman herself.
5 MARY JANE WATSON
The idea of Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker having children has been explored in countless alternate universes and "What if?" storylines over the years. What many fans may not know, though, is that everyone's favorite fictional couple actually conceived a child in the main Marvel Universe. Back in the '90s, during the infamous Clone Saga, Mary Jane surprised Peter with the news that she was pregnant.
Initially, things seemed to be going great for the couple and the baby, but everything changed when an individual working for Norman Osborn poisoned Mary Jane's food, which caused her to suffer a stillbirth. This tragic event took a toll on Peter and MJ, and their once happy marriage became strained. Fortunately for them, Marvel slowly moved away from this storyline, and the pair got the chance to have a fresh start years down the line.
4 WONDER WOMAN
By this point, most people are familiar with Wonder Woman's backstory. However, there are still a few obscure tidbits about her comic book history that not many (even the most dedicated fans) may be aware of. One of the most interesting ones by far is the fact that, for a time, Diana was a mother. In DC's Earth-Two continuity, Diana and Steve Trevor had a child named Hippolyta Trevor. The young warrior followed in her mother's footsteps and became a superhero herself.
Hippolyta accomplished great things during her crime-fighting days, even going as far as assembling her own superhero team. Overall, despite the fact that she existed on an alternate Earth, Hippolyta became a solid addition to Wonder Woman's universe. Curiously, shortly after her debut, DC retconned the character as the offspring of another superhero, so her identity as Diana Prince's daughter was forgotten by comic book fans.
3 MARIA STARK'S FIRST SON
Tony Stark may be the face of the Stark empire, but he isn't the only heir to the throne. Way before Tony came into the picture, Maria and Howard Stark conceived a son. Unfortunately, the baby suffered life-threatening complications while inside the womb. Desperate to save his son, Howard came across a robot named 451, who promised to save the baby's life, in exchange for being allowed to experiment with the baby's genetic code.
The Starks agreed to the deal, and their baby, Arno, was born with no further complications. Unfortunately, Howard had meddled with 451's genetic code, and the baby fell ill. Frightened by the possibility of 451 discovering what had happened, the Starks put Arno under hospital care and adopted Tony Stark in order to trick 451 into thinking he was the baby they had originally conceived. Given how complicated this origin is, it's understandable that not many fans remember it.
2 BATGIRL
The comic book versions of Barbara Gordon and Bruce Wayne have always shared a strong mentor-mentee relationship, but their dynamic was drastically changed in Batman Beyond. Throughout the show's run, audiences got several hints pointing to a past romance between the two heroes. Fans never got a chance to know just how far their relationship went until the show's comic book continuation was released. In Batman Beyond 2.0, it's revealed that Barbara and Bruce became romantically involved while Dick Grayson was away.
Some time after their relationship started, Barbara revealed she was pregnant with Bruce's child. Fans got excited to see where the story could go from there, but the hero's pregnancy didn't last long. During a night out trying to defend some civilians from a mugger, Gordon suffered a miscarriage, and ever since then, Babs' pregnancy was essentially left behind by the Batman Beyond mythology.
1 CARNAGE
Cletus Kassidy is probably not a character readers would expect to see in a list about forgotten pregnancies, but he fits the bill. Marvel symbiotes reproduce asexually, so in the 2008 'Venom vs. Carnage' storyline, Carnage gave birth to his first offspring, Toxin. The baddie initially attempted to get rid of his child, but Venom swooped in to save him, hoping to make the newborn a new ally in his criminal activities.
Unfortunately for Venom, Carnage implanted Toxin into a man named Patrick Mulligan, and to the dismay of both symbiotes, Mulligan (with help from Spider-Man and Black Cat) managed to mold the young Toxin into a superhero. Given the fact that Toxin hasn't been a prominent character in the comics ever since this storyline, it's understandable that many fans have no idea of the character's existence. But yes, Carnage actually had a son that became a superhero.