Leah and Children

[Cocoa]

Can Leah have children? Or has she been robbed of that gift as she suspects?

[leahlovetwilight]

yaya
firsties
well,
i think if she stops phasing. because technically, what happens to the baby if she gets pregnant and she phases?
that would be bad.
i think she can, just like the whole aging thing.

[Saffron Sunset]

Can Leah have children?

I was so ready to post a "no" message in reply to this question, but then I remembered that I'd thought the same about Bella & Edward before reading Breaking Dawn. So, I agree leahlovetwilight that it might be possible if she decided to stop phasing for a while. If she turned her back on life as a werewolf, her body might settle back into its regular rhythm. (Perhaps that's why she resisted eating like a werewolf and only phased when she had to? She wanted to be as human as possible in the hope that she would slide back into "woman" again, as opposed to "werewolf".)

Then again, it might be irreversible – I wonder if that's another reason she has for hating vampires so much? If she believes that not being able to have children is an irreversible effect, does she blame the presence of the Cullens for forcing her transition from human to werewolf?

[Angeliss]

I'm going to assume, that since this discussion is rooted in issues in BD, that it is alright to post something with BD spoilers.

I don't know if Leah can have children. Overall, I think it unlikely. She has a point- why is she the only female wolf? In all of their history, she's the first one. Obviously girls have the genes, and not just as carriers. It isn't like Bella and Edward, when it's possible only because Edward doesn't kill her first, like any other vampire would have. It isn't a case of women not surviving the change, it's the fact that they never change at all.

However, there is still hope for her to imprint, because of Jacob. He imprinted on someone who is definitely not Quileute. Leah might still have a chance. That's slightly off topic, but it fits together in my mind with this one when I think about Leah.

Someone can lose their period from stress, be it mental, emotional, or physical, and I think Leah has had quite a lot of that, from Sam, to losing her father, to becoming a werewolf, the last of which being an extreme physicaal stress. If she stopped phasing, she might have a chance of going back to it. Besides, what child could handle changing from wolf form to human form and vice versa? It might be a protection, not only for her, but for any children she could have, particularly when she can't control her phasing.

[xXBeSafeXx]

WELL....
I think she can, since it has been mentioned several times in the series that Jacob could give Bella children...so...I think Leah could have children as well.

[JulesCullen]

I'll just give my vote. It is like she is frozen in time, so, like a female vampire, her reproductive cycle would stop. However, I think that once she stops phasing and starts ageing again, she'll have her period.

Though I think she will have her period again, I think it is possible that she is infertile, because I agree with some of her "genetic dead-end" musings on why she became a wolf in the first place.

[museicalking]

leah- well i dont know what to say to this. I mean im thinking if werewolves/shapeshifters can have babies through there transformed self, or if she can get pregnant and still transform with the baby, there is such thing as pregnant wolves....but i cant be sure from BD's plot with a baby from a vampire father and mortal mother, what can happen?

[Bronze Haired Girl]

I was talking to someone today about this and I have a theory. We now know that the wolves are genetically different from humans. I don't think she's a genetic deadend. Her whole concern over the matter seems to stem from the fact that she hasn't had a period since she transformed. What if her reproductive cycle is something more similar to that of a wolf? Wolves go into heat just once a year and at the time of that discussion in the book I believe Leah had been a wolf for less than a year. I don't think she's menopausal as she fears, but rather on a cycle like a wolf's.

There was another post that mentioned something I hadn't considered. I didn't think about what would happen to a baby if she phased while pregnant. Taking that into consideration I see two different possiblities. First, she can't get pregnant until she is able to control her phasing and stay human for extended periods. I see this one as a possiblity, but not the theory I think most likely. The second theory, (going with my one period a year theory) she can get pregnant and the pregnancy will prevent her from phasing until the birth.

These were just my thoughts today on this matter and purely my theories. I would be interested now to read a book from Leah's perspective. However it turns out I don't think she will never be able to have children. I think the possiblity is still there in some form.

[AliceLauren]

I think that she can have children, she just has to wait until she sops phasing. Like yall said, I think it would be kinda bad if she phased while pregnant.

But I kinda hope she can have children. That would kinda suck if you couldn't. But she does have a good point about why Sam didn't choose her to imprint on. Maybe she is a biological dead end...

[dragon-girl]

I'm with the people who think she'll have to stop phasing first.
For one thing, I don't think she'd be able to carry a baby while still shifting. For Stephenie's wolves, the change seems to be a very violent thing. There's no way a baby could survive that to term.
I also think that her periods will probably start again once she stops phasing, or possibly before that. Don't they sometimes stop for a while if you're under a huge amount of stress, and for a number of other reasons? I would say turning into a werewolf several times a week, if not a day, is pretty stressful for a body.

And would she even want a child while still phasing? Would you be able to look after a very young child properly if you kept having to phase? I think the pack leader would give you some leeway from scouting duties, etc, but you couldn't just stop it completely.