#that she can just whammo remove when she wants kids then that's fine too

[pastafossa]

I don’t know if it was mentioned in the story or if I forgot, but is Jane on birth control? I think they’re both smart enough to be aware of the potential consequences if Jane were to get pregnant now. With the man in the coat still after her, a baby that could potentially have her powers (and who knows what Matt’s enhanced senses would add to that) would make him come after Jane more. And with the way the two of them are going, if they’re not using a condom and she’s not on a pill, it would happen sooner rather than later. Tbh I would really like to see Matt and Jane as parents, married, and just having a nice, happy life. They both deserve it so much. But I think it’s too early right now… maybe a baby scare? Even if she’s on the pill, it’s not always 100% effective. It would be interesting to see Matt’s reaction, but would he be able to tell? Sorry this is so long, but I’m curious :)

Alright, SO, outside of one line ("already taken care of"), I haven't really brought it up because I'm aware of just how delicate stuff like this, and I'm still not sure how much it's going to come up in the fic so I don't see a huge issue with talking a little bit about why she's so confidently having sex with Matt sans condom. Especially since this isn't the first question I've had about her and matt, re: bc/chance of pregnancy. Because you're right - they're both smart enough to be aware of the potential consequences if she gets pregnant. Especially her. You're also right on the nose with just valuable a kid with two enhanced parents would be to the Man in the White Coat.

First: I'm going to put this behind a See More tag just in case someone doesn't want eventual spoilers, or in case anything to do with fertility/birth control/mentions of a terrible scientist's 'breeding' program is triggering to someone.

Second: this is one of those things that ya'll free to disregard since I'm not even sure if I'm going to touch on it in the fic, and you're free to come up with your own answer for Jane's BC if you don't like mine! I'm fond of one reader's headcanon that Ciro talked to S.H.I.E.L.D. and got some super nifty implant for Jane. But if you're looking for what's in my head, re: TRT and birth control methods, well, here we go.

So you are correct. In my head, she is practicing a form of birth control, and it's something she had done a while back in Los Angeles, with Ciro's assistance. She was forced to run the same calculations as you, and much like you, she came up with the answer: pregnancy is a risk I cannot take. Even back then, before she'd ever met Matt, a kid with her genes would be valuable. I've made one or two vague references about the Man in the White Coat's plans for her genetic line ("‘I should have harvested that stupid animal.’ - chapter 35) but I'm gonna be a little more explicit: the Man in the White Coat has used breeding programs in the past in an attempt to fuck around with genetics, and he sees no reason not to do so with Jane, considering she's one of his greatest successes.

She knew that couldn't happen, even at 16. She knew what it was like to grow up as an experiment. The pill wasn't effective enough for her, considering it had to be taken the same time every day and consistently (not really something that can be done on the run), and as for condoms? Yeah, they break. And having an abortion would have potentially drawn attention as a medical procedure (and depending on where Jane was at the time, might not be accessible if she ever had to run again). The answer, to her, was obvious.

Ciro agreed, even as a Catholic.

So, she had a quick surgical snip, done quietly at a private facility that Ciro paid a lot of hush money to. If she ever wanted it reversed, the odds of a successful reversal were somewhere around 70% if she was still under 35. Lower if she was older. But that was a chance she was willing to take. No part of her - not her, nor any potential children - will ever be taken by the Man in the White Coat if she has anything to say about it. She controls that part of her life.

Matt isn't entirely sure what she's had done (and she's not sure how he'd take it, considering how Catholic he is) but he trusts her, and the smooth steadiness of her heartbeat, when she says that pregnancy isn't a concern. His thinking is some sort of implant, though he hasn't sensed one.

Now - could she become pregnant? Yes, even without a reversal. There's a low chance, but it's low enough that she's not really all that bothered by it, and Matt wouldn't be either, if he knew. And Matt would likely be the first person to know if that changed! I was going to leave whether they eventually have kids open ended because too much description of actual pregnancy makes my brain panic I wanted to let people decide for themselves what that part of their life might look like, since everyone's a little different. <3 I will say I'm definitely planning, even after the official conclusion of TRT, to have some snapshot fics of their mostly happy life together except for the snap fic, and there's also gonna be a wedding at some point because hello the potential for wedding hilarity is huge when one side is ethical vigilante heroes and the other side is full of mobsters.