If you’re looking for a more realistic surrogacy experience than the vanilla Science Baby method, you should definitely check out this Surrogate Mod.
The Sims 4 recently added the option of having a Science Baby to the game, allowing your sim to have a child with another sim regardless of their gender representation, relationship, etc. It’s a great way to give couples a child who otherwise may not be able to have one, or for single sims to become parents to children that share their DNA.
As cool as this option is it’s not really realistic and breezes through the childbearing process, making it feel a bit impersonal and not as monumental of an event as carrying a baby to term through pregnancy feels. The Artificial Insemination & Surrogate Mod by Lumpinou is one of a suite of relationship & pregnancy overhaul mods designed to bring more variety and enhancement to the lives of your sims by enriching the experience of having a baby, whether your sim is the one carrying it or not.
Bringing a new bundle of joy into the world with the Surrogate Mod
Just as it goes in real life, there are a number of reasons sims may opt for a surrogate pregnancy:
- Sim is unable to impregnate others/become pregnant on their own
- Sim has other things in their life they need to be available to focus on, such as working or traveling
- Sim is single and unable to become pregnant on their own
- Sim doesn’t want to carry a baby
There’s a lot to this mod, so stick around and learn about how it works!
Having a Baby via Surrogacy
The main goal of this mod is to give playable sims a chance to have a pregnancy carried by a surrogate sim. Before you start the process, if your sim has a romantic partner they need to ask them first and get approval. A pop up window will appear allowing you to choose the response of the partner, which will inform the reactions & buffs they get from the interaction. If you have pop ups disabled, the game will choose randomly for you.
- Click on your sim and select Family and Pregnancy → Alternate Pregnancy → Have a Baby through a Surrogate which will prompt your sim to call the Agency of Surrogate Mothers. From here a picker will open up showing you the sims available to carry the pregnancy and allow you to choose one.
- Not long after your sim will receive a phone call from their new Surrogate to introduce themselves; after that you are able to invite the Surrogate over to meet them & feel the baby if you wish.
- A little while afterward your Surrogate will call and offer to reveal the baby’s gender, which you can accept or decline. You can also ask about the gender of the baby when the Surrogate is over visiting, if you so choose.
- When it’s time to have the baby, you will get a notification that the Surrogate is ready to give birth; you can choose to invite them over to give birth in your home or let them do it on their own and pick up the baby later.
For a home birth, invite the Surrogate over and once they arrive, click on them and select Ask About Pregnancy Progress (Ready to Give Birth). Once the baby is born you must click on it and select Welcome New Baby. During the birthing process, the Surrogate will become a temporary member of your household, but they will be removed once the birth is complete. Should you choose to let the Surrogate give birth on their own, invite them over after the birth, click on them, and select Ask About Pregnancy Progress (Already Gave Birth). The Surrogate will bring the baby over and they will become part of your family!
Becoming A Surrogate for Other Sims (Advanced Users)
Your sims can also give the ultimate gift to others by becoming a Surrogate themselves. It’s not required that they talk with their partner about it first (if they have one) but still advised, as it’s a big life decision.
- When your sim is ready to become a Surrogate, click on them and choose Family and Pregnancy → Alternate Pregnancy → Carry a Baby for Other. Your sim will call the Agency of Surrogate Mothers before heading to the lab for impregnation.
- They can also sign up with the Agency to receive random Surrogacy requests.
- Once impregnated, your sim can invite over the parent(s) to meet & feel the baby as well as share the gender with them and chat about the pregnancy’s progress.
- When it’s time to give birth your sim will either have the baby offscreen (if you’re not currently playing them), or give birth in their own home.
- Once the baby is born they’ll need to be sent home by selecting Family and Pregnancy → Alternate Pregnancy → Send Surrogate Child to Its Parents.
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Notes & Things You Need To Know
- The baby will pull their genetics from whatever available parents there are, and the lab will choose a random sample sim to fill in the missing genetics.
- Sims’ family trees will represent their genetic lines while their Relationship Panel will properly label their parents and other family members.
- NPC surrogate pregnancies will last 2 days. You can accelerate the pregnancy via the Family and Pregnancy menu.
- If a playable Surrogate gives birth offscreen, you won’t be able to name the baby.
- You can fix this in CAS once they’re aged to Infant with the Full Edit Mode cheat.
- If you choose to have a playable sim act as a Surrogate it is advised by Lumpinou that you don’t play them during the pregnancy to prevent issues. The mod is built to allow it, but it’s still not recommended.
You can learn more details about the Surrogate Mod, its other aspects, and how it behaves here.
Final Thoughts
Surrogacy is a wonderful option for people & sims alike to expand their families. Whether your sim wants to become a parent or give the gift of parenthood to another, the Surrogate Mod will let them reach their dreams. It’s a wonderful way to enhance gameplay, add drama to stories, and more. Give the mod a try and enjoy your new babies!
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Nicole