Fairy Tale Spotlight: Unbegotten Child [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the entire story.]

"Unbegotten Child" is a short science fiction story written by Winston K. Marks. It was published in 1953. This story reeks of evolution, but this is the muddy waters I have to often tread when I read early science fiction stories. I'm not saying I am excusing it. It's just something I have decided to endure in the name of finding all those hidden gems I am always looking for.

The idea here is that a woman shows up at a doctor's office, and she is clearly pregnant, but she is convinced that it's a tumor and wants the doctor to remove it. The doctor is alternatively convinced that it is, in fact, a baby inside her. But the woman is absolutely sure that she is a virgin. She never had sex.

As it turns out, she had run away from a French doctor who had been kind of obsessing over her condition. He too believes that she is pregnant, but that her pregnancy was the result of a change in human evolution. He thinks that humans are changing to become asexual reproducers. That basically means that people are evolving to just get pregnant without needing sex. He even suggested that men would also suddenly get pregnant.

I'm sighing a lot while I write this. Pinching the bridge of my nose. Trying to just... move on with this review.

Anyways, the French doctor ends up being correct. She ends up having a beautiful baby girl. At first, the doctor thinks it must have all just been a misunderstanding. Maybe she just had sex and didn't remember it or something. This is until he is pointed to the fact that the baby has no navel. Basically humans are just going to grow inside people like tumors now. Yeah. That's evolution for ya.

I don't recommend the story. It was stupid.

This blog was written on April 26, 2024.

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