Having a baby on Voyager?

[QuarkforNagus]

Does anyone else think it's weird that B'Elanna and Tom are excited about having a kid on Voyager?

That ship is always in mortal danger.

I wonder if they would be looked at funny if they chose to have an abortion based on their current living situation.

 

[Third Nacelle]

I think Tom and B'Elanna are well aware that a kid whose parents' names are in the opening credits is probably safe.

Kidding aside, B'Elanna seemed suprised when she found out she was pregnant, so I don't think they were planning on it.

 

[R. Star]

Does anyone else think it's weird that B'Elanna and Tom are excited about having a kid on Voyager?

That ship is always in mortal danger.

I wonder if they would be looked at funny if they chose to have an abortion based on their current living situation.

Oh yeah, kill the baby because there's the possibility it might die. That makes sense.

Or it simply could be that they're excited because they're having a kid regardless of the setting. If anything that excitement would override any imminent danger they're in. They can't do anything about that danger, they can do something about their family and they were.

 

[QuarkforNagus]

I didn't mean to get into a senseless prolife bullshit debate...

 

[R. Star]

I didn't mean to get into a senseless prolife bullshit debate...

I find it difficult to give that much credit being you're the one who brought it up. But I love how your first reaction is just to slander the opposing viewpoint. Your own derogatory expression seems to fit.

 

[Zippo and Flask]

I didn't mean to get into a senseless prolife bullshit debate...

If you don't want to get into a debate about religion, don't mention God or anything having to do with religion.

If you don't want to get into a debate about politics, don't mention anything having to do with politics.

If you don't want to get into a debate about prolife issues, don't mention abortion.

You opened the can, now the worms are free to dig.

 

[MacLeod]

I find it more difficult to believe that there was only one child concieved onboard Voyager. After all the voyage back to Earth could have been 70 years,

 

[QuarkforNagus]

Someone should abort B'Elanna. Then she wouldn't make everyone else have to deal with her self-hatred for her heritage.

 

[Zippo and Flask]

Someone should abort B'Elanna. Then she wouldn't make everyone else have to deal with her self-hatred for her heritage.

Someone should abort you.

 

[R. Star]

I find it more difficult to believe that there was only one child concieved onboard Voyager. After all the voyage back to Earth could have been 70 years,

While I agree with this point, from a standpoint of watching every week... it's not a bad thing. Trek kids generally just get annoying when on screen too much.

 

[Third Nacelle]

Didn't Chuckles and Kathy talk about the possibility of Voyager being a generational ship in Elogium? I would not have minded seeing some kids born on Voyager, as long as they remained background characters like most of the kids on the Enterprise (except Wesley).

 

[QuarkforNagus]

I just don't see the point in arguing an issue that everyone here has probably already argued at some point. Nobody's opinion is going to change on the matter.

I was more wondering whether or not it still seems to be such a hot-button issue in Voyager times.

Obviously, you're not killing a "baby" because there's a possibility it might die. The child will eventually die, the way everyone does.

The question is, is it responsible to knowingly raise a child in the kind of environment where hostile aliens are regularly beaming themselves upon the ship and holding it hostage?

Can you provide the kind of socialization with children of the same age that people generally believe necessary to the healthy development of a human being? The same security? Will the crew treat you the same based on making either decision?

 

[MacLeod]

I find it more difficult to believe that there was only one child concieved onboard Voyager. After all the voyage back to Earth could have been 70 years,

While I agree with this point, from a standpoint of watching every week... it's not a bad thing. Trek kids generally just get annoying when on screen too much.

You don't have to see them, a throwaway line or log entry just to say for example that one of the Delany sisters is expecting.

 

[Third Nacelle]

I just don't see the point in arguing an issue that everyone here has probably already argued at some point. Nobody's opinion is going to change on the matter.

I was more wondering whether or not it still seems to be such a hot-button issue in Voyager times.

Obviously, you're not killing a "baby" because there's a possibility it might die. The child will eventually die, the way everyone does.

The question is, is it responsible to knowingly raise a child in the kind of environment where hostile aliens are regularly beaming themselves upon the ship and holding it hostage?

Can you provide the kind of socialization with children of the same age that people generally believe necessary to the healthy development of a human being? The same security? Will the crew treat you the same based on making either decision?

Ok, were Bajorans irresponsible for continuing to have children during the Cardassian occupation? Should they have just stopped reproducing and died out to prevent their kids ending up in work camps?

Should humans have stopped having kids after WWIII and the post-atmoic horror?

Should the crew of the Defiant not have had kids when they crashed on Gaia, alone and unprotected in the past?

Or how about the kids born on NX-01 in E²?

Sometimes you cannot raise your immediate offspring in the most ideal environment, but you do the best you can and hope it will be better for your grandchildren.

 

[QuarkforNagus]

I, personally, do not have an opinion on that. I've found myself wondering, regularly, why people continued to procreate during slavery in the US, for example (aside from cases of rape).

I don't know if the Bajoran example applies in this situation. In some sense, procreation was necessary to maintain the cultural legacy of their people. I don't know that the crew of Voyager can claim the same utilitarian purpose.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

I find it more difficult to believe that there was only one child concieved onboard Voyager. After all the voyage back to Earth could have been 70 years,

Its the leola root. Most people do not realize that it's a potent birth control agent. For reasons unknown but probably related to her klingon heritage, B'Elanna was immune.

The question is, is it responsible to knowingly raise a child in the kind of environment where hostile aliens are regularly beaming themselves upon the ship and holding it hostage?

Can you provide the kind of socialization with children of the same age that people generally believe necessary to the healthy development of a human being? The same security? Will the crew treat you the same based on making either decision?

From Deadlock...

JANEWAY: In a way, this child belongs to all of us. It is the first baby born on Voyager. I'm just not sure whether I should be welcoming it on board, or apologizing.
CHAKOTAY: Captain?
JANEWAY: Voyager isn't exactly anyone's idea of a nursery, and the Delta Quadrant isn't much of a playground.
CHAKOTAY: My father had a saying, Captain. Home is wherever you happen to be.

One can find someone in every epoch who will intone that its irresponsible to bring new life into the world "today". But new life is a sign of hope, a big FU to the fates that have tossed Voyager across the galaxy.

I would not be surprised to see more people decide to follow in Tom and B'Elanna's footsteps if they stayed in the DQ for 2 more decades. Providing, of course, the couples are as "compatible" as Turkey Platter and Bacon Lettuce Tomato.

 

[Lynx]

"They're having a baby now
it wasn't really meant to be
They're having a baby now
What will their future be

They gonna put the job on Voyager down
They've gonna get a job in town
Their world is really upside down, they're really down"

"She's Having A Baby Now"
The Tages

(slightly edited by Lynx)

 

[FFunctionalData]

they saw that Naomi Wildman was doing alright and prob figured why not. Look at how much crap that kid survived and she seemed ok.

And Neelix was there to babysit so it was all good.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

I think more about how B'Elanna was practically in labor (and then finally IN labor) during Endgame when they were like...in the midst of their final battle.

But yeah, other than THAT, I never had an issue with it and I don't think they even considered abortion. After all, Naomi Wildman was born on that ship and she loved it, called it home...all that good stuff. I think B'Elanna and Tom were surprised, but even though they weren't planning on it, I don't think aborting was really an option for them.

Just because the ship was in danger a lot, the kids seemed to always survive and most of the crew survived. It's not like the baby would be going on any away missions!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I, personally, do not have an opinion on that. I've found myself wondering, regularly, why people continued to procreate during slavery in the US, for example (aside from cases of rape).

I know right! What with the pill being so readily available and there being so much television in their quarters.