Should Janeway have been a mother?

[Orphalesion]

Well she does have Harry, he's the next best thing to a child...

Aside from that....no of course not! Only because she's a woman doesn't mean she needs to be a mother or want to be a mother. There was already enough "Mama Kate" on Voyage as it is.

Why not ask "Should Picard have been written as a father?"

 

[Lynx]

No!

It would have turned the series into a syrupy soap opera.

 

[bbjeg]

I think Naomi's character worked perfectly in this regard. She was pretty much everyone's kid (maybe not Harry's). Jake Sisco (before he became an adult) stayed more in his father's shadow and the writers didn't know what they were doing with Wesley. Naomi had somewhat of a tribal upbringing. Everyone was her guardian (maybe not Harry).

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

^ Yes! Who needs a kid of their own when you have Naomi around! The fact that she is half-alien helps too because then she grows up faster than a regular human. Also she is super smart for her age. Remember her proposed plan to rescue Seven in Dark Frontier? Yeah. I had no clue what she was talking about! I definitely don't want kids, biological or adopted but I'd look after young Miss. Wildman in a heartbeat

 

[Finn]

Why is it not weird for Kirk and Picard to choose career over reproduction but weird for Janeway?

Didn't Marcus ask Kirk to be out of the picture. For all we know, Kirk might have wanted to be there. It would have been many years before and there may have been some fight for custody. It would have been before TOS....

 

[bbailey861]

Certainly not. IMO, motherhood is not something she is suited for. She is suited for a life of duty with no other distractions. While I personally question some of the decisions she made as a Captain, she was a strong leader who wasn't afraid to make decisions. She is well suited for the Admiralty, with no kids.

 

[Melakon]

Didn't Marcus ask Kirk to be out of the picture. For all we know, Kirk might have wanted to be there. It would have been many years before and there may have been some fight for custody. It would have been before TOS....

You probably just gave an idea for a novel to one of the major writers around here.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Certainly not. IMO, motherhood is not something she is suited for. She is suited for a life of duty with no other distractions. While I personally question some of the decisions she made as a Captain, she was a strong leader who wasn't afraid to make decisions. She is well suited for the Admiralty, with no kids.

So you don't think Admirals in Starfleet should have children?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Evidence for the Prosecution #1: Tom Paris.

 

[bbjeg]

Father #2 could have been half Q. What the hell Janeway? Exploring the unknown my ass.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Why hasn't the OP posed this question in TNG's Forum or ENT's Forum?

Patrick Stewart was 47 when TNG started.

Scott Bakula was also 47 when ENT started.

Kate Mulgrew was only 40 when VOY started.

Currently the oldest woman to be pregnant and deliver safely ( with twins no less, in 2006) was 1 week shy of 67.

Why is this question just being asked in this forum?

 

[Lynx]

I think Naomi's character worked perfectly in this regard. She was pretty much everyone's kid (maybe not Harry's). Jake Sisco (before he became an adult) stayed more in his father's shadow and the writers didn't know what they were doing with Wesley. Naomi had somewhat of a tribal upbringing. Everyone was her guardian (maybe not Harry).

Especially Neelix and Flotter!

Anyway, as soon as kids are brought in to a series like Voyager or something similar, it becomes sentimental and syrupy. I still cringe when I think of the TNG episodes with Alexander, Worf's son. Especially when Lwaxana Troi was involved too. My initial reaction used to be: "Oh no, not that kind of episode again!"

It was the same with Naomi. There were some episodes I watched on tapes where I used the fast-forward button because it became so cute and syrupy. Which is a reason why I had totally forgotten Flotter until he was brought up in a thread a while ago.

Kids are OK in some single episodes, like TNG:s "Imaginary Friend" and Voyager's "Innocence", the one where Tuvok is stranded with three kids. But when they become a permanent fixture in a series like Voyager, there's always the risk that it becomes too sentimental and syrupy.

 

[Melakon]

Why is this question just being asked in this forum?

I think a lot of it is related to the nature of this question in the OP:

She was around 40 years old at the time. Engaged to Mark. Does this make sense?

It's phrased as if the idea is incomprehensible.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Why hasn't the OP posed this question in TNG's Forum or ENT's Forum?

Patrick Stewart was 47 when TNG started.

Scott Bakula was also 47 when ENT started.

Kate Mulgrew was only 40 when VOY started.

Currently the oldest woman to be pregnant and deliver safely ( with twins no less, in 2006) was 1 week shy of 67.

Why is this question just being asked in this forum?

Because classically (1950s era) a fathers job is to stay out of the way while the mother does everything.

The derision of her birthdate is applicable to this contention.

According to an okudagram shown in "The Killing Game", she was born in 2344, however, this would mean she was only 27 in 2371 when she took command of the USS Voyager. For comparison, Mulgrew was 39 when she took the role. Not having played tennis for nineteen years since high school in 2373, Janeway was probably around the age of 35 when Voyager's mission began, placing her actual year of birth closer to 2336.An okudagram biography on the video game Starship Creator Warp II states her birth date as 2332.
Kate Mulgrew stated in an interview on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (18 May 2001) that Admiral Janeway was 76 in "Endgame". It had taken her 23 years to return to Earth and they were celebrating the tenth anniversary at the beginning of the episode, making the year 2404, which puts her year of birth in 2328.

If 40 year old Mulgrew, was really playing the part of a 27 year old Character, she really did look quite tired, and this "typo" generates the usual questions.

Do younger women want babies more than old ladies, or do younger women have more sex than old ladies, so are more likely to have the usual accident, or do younger women just think that they are going to be young forever so there's no need to rush like old ladies do racing against a biological clock?

Also, maybe there is no age limit to when a woman can have a baby any more in the 24th century?

Clone a new egg from some 76 year old Admiral Janeway chin dandruff, mix it with donated minion sperm, and then cook it for 9 months in a birthing matrix... Hey presto: MOTHERHOOD!

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Certainly not. IMO, motherhood is not something she is suited for. She is suited for a life of duty with no other distractions. While I personally question some of the decisions she made as a Captain, she was a strong leader who wasn't afraid to make decisions. She is well suited for the Admiralty, with no kids.

So you don't think Admirals in Starfleet should have children?

I imagine being in Starfleet AND a parent would be very difficult because you wouldn't see your children as much (exceptions being Sisko and the O'Briens). I liken it to being in the military, always off on missions and the high possibility of death.

 

[Janeway7trulv]

Certainly not. IMO, motherhood is not something she is suited for. She is suited for a life of duty with no other distractions. While I personally question some of the decisions she made as a Captain, she was a strong leader who wasn't afraid to make decisions. She is well suited for the Admiralty, with no kids.

Excellently stated and exactly what i meant

 

[SPCTRE]

No.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Janeway has decades before she's going to be even thinking she might be getting too old for parenthood.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Besides, pick the right species to mate against, and you could have a child that's grown up into a complete adult in under a year.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

YES!

This extends the biological clock very impressively.