Moffat’s Magnificent Mystical Pregnancy

I suppose it’s only fitting I begin by writing about the very storyline that inspired me to create this blog. 

If you don’t know what the mystical pregnancy trope is I suggest you watch feminist fequency’s video on the topic as she explains it all far better than I could ever could.

Now, Amy’s mystical pregnancy. 

In the first episode of series six, The Impossible Astronaut, we learn that Amy believe’s she is pregnant, however by the end of the next episode she tells The Doctor that she was mistaken.

The series continues and Amy carries on believing she is not pregnant. The Doctor, on the other hand, has some suspicions, so what does he do? Share these suspicions with Amy and let her know that there is possibly something growing inside her that she might not be aware of? No. Of course not. 

The Doctor uses the TARDIS to scan her several times, without her consent or knowledge, to try and discover if she is in fact pregnant. The TARDIS is unable to confirm whether or not Amy is pregnant and, over the course of the series, his suspicions grow. However he still does not see fit to share this information with Amy. In fact it is not until Amy begins to go into labor that he informs her she is pregnant. 

Amy is understandably confused as she doesn’t physically appear to be pregnant. This does not seem to concern The Doctor and, instead of explaining what’s going on, he simply decides to send her off somewhere, completely unknown, to give birth. 

Why is all of this problematic?

By keeping Amy in the dark about her pregnancy The Doctor takes her choice away from her. She is unable to make any decisions for herself. Her lifestyle isn’t exactly ideal for raising children. It’s very likely, at the least, Amy would have considered abortion. But no, this choice is taken away from her and instead all the decisions about her pregnancy are made for her by a man. 

This storyline is made all the more disturbing when we consider the massive push for american audiences Doctor Who made at the beginning of series six. I’ll admit, this probably was a coincidence, however I can’t be the only one who was left feeling uneasy.

In a world where reproductive rights are constantly under attack, people’s right to control what happens to their bodies is undermined, planned parenthoods are being defunded, and people are being denied access to contraception, it is very troubling and incredibly frustrating, although not shocking, to see sexist tropes such as this on a show. Especially a show which once gave us such brilliant female characters.