The Sims 4 might not be the perfect life simulator, but it gets pretty darn close - especially with how it handles pregnancy. Your Sims stories need to continue on, and the only way to do that is your Sims getting pregnant and carrying on their legacy.

There are many ways to play the game and you don't need to have Sim babies if you don't want to; however, if you plan on playing a legacy game in The Sims 4 with multiple generations of the same Sim family, you'll probably want to have your Sims trying for babies pretty regularly.

It's not just a simple case of engaging in WooHoo - there's pregnancy odds to consider, genders, twins and triplets, where to give birth, as well as considering adoption.

Who can get pregnant in The Sims 4?How to get pregnant and 'Try for Baby' in The Sims 4Pregnancy odds in The Sims 4 explainedHow to influence gender and have a boy or girl in The Sims 4How to influence multiple births and have twins or triplets in The Sims 4The trimester stages of The Sims 4 pregnancyGiving birth in The Sims 4How to adopt in The Sims 4Other ways to get pregnant in The Sims 4

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Who can get pregnant in The Sims 4?

By default, pregnancy is mainly experienced by Young Adult and Adult female Sims who have participated in the 'Try for Baby' interaction with a Young Adult/Adult/Elder male.

There are, however, a couple of exceptions.

Gender customisation

The Sims 4 introduced the franchise's first Custom Gender Settings. Accessible under the gender selection tab in Create-A-Sim, the customisation options are broken down into a few different categories, including pregnancy options.

This was the first time that The Sims had built in the ability to create gender non-conforming characters, as the player is free to mix-and-match the options without regard to the gender that the game recognizes for the character.

This customisation allows the player to choose whether a Sim can 'Become Pregnant', 'Get others pregnant', or 'Neither'. By default, female Sims can 'Become Pregnant' and male Sims can 'Get others pregnant', but now you can choose how your characters operate under the hood.

Custom Gender Settings first become available when a Sim is in the Teen life stage, and can be edited on Teens, Young Adults, Adults, and Elders.

However, since Teens can't access the 'Try for Baby' interaction, their pregnancy options are passive until they age up to Young Adulthood; while in practice Elders can't get pregnant even if they possess the 'Become Pregnant' ability.

How to get pregnant and 'Try for Baby' in The Sims 4

Initiating a pregnancy in The Sims 4 is opt-in rather than opt-out. Regular WooHoo never results in pregnancy, and Sims who are hoping to start a family in this way need to use the 'Try for Baby' option instead.

Found right next to 'WooHoo' in the interaction menu (either on the target Sim or the WooHoo-able location), 'Try for Baby' also becomes available at the same point in a relationship: when the couple in question have around 40%-50% in the Romantic relationship metre and/or are in a formal relationship (Dating/Engaged/Married).

Even under these conditions, 'Try for Baby' will only be available when one partner can 'Become Pregnant' and the other can 'Get others pregnant'.

This can be altered by the player using Custom Gender Settings (see above), where you can also disable a Sim's ability to 'Try for Baby' altogether by selecting 'Neither'.

Either parent-to-be can initiate 'Try for Baby'. The interaction itself plays out exactly like ordinary WooHoo; it's not until after the fireworks have ended that things become a bit different.

Note: Sims with the 'Hates Children' trait can still 'Try for Baby', but will get the 'Conception Tension' (+1 Tense) moodlet.

Another note: Households in The Sims 4 are capped at eight members; so if there are already eight people living in your Sim's household, no-one can 'Try for Baby' until someone moves out (or dies) to make room for a new arrival.

If your prospective parents live apart, only the Sim who can 'Become Pregnant' needs to worry about their existing household size, since babies are added to the birth parent's household once they're born (even if you're playing with the non-birth parent as your active Sim).

Pregnancy odds in The Sims 4 explained

The base chance of getting pregnant from any given 'Try for Baby' interaction is 80%.

In other words - your Sims are very likely to conceive successfully on their first try, and two attempts should all but guarantee it.

Even in the unlikely event that you get unlucky with the random number generator the first few times, there's really no need to worry: aside from a few short-lived moodlets there's nothing that can bring your Sims' fertility below that 80% minimum, so you just need to keep trying.

However, if you're looking for guaranteed instant results, you can check out the twins and triplets sections below for some additional pointers.

Using any of these methods to increase your chances of getting twins or triplets boosts the success odds of 'Try for Baby' to 100% or even above: meaning that conceiving at least one baby is assured.

Furthermore, with Romantic Garden Stuff installed, Young Adult or older Sims with space in their household can wish for a child.

Extreme success will be met with a child being instantly added to the family; meanwhile, a moderate success will grant the 'Try For Baby' Flirty moodlet. Using the 'Try for Baby' interaction while this moodlet is active will guarantee a pregnancy.

How to influence gender and have a boy or girl in The Sims 4

In The Sims 4, as in real life, pregnancy is a roll of the dice: your Sims might end up having a boy or a girl, or even twins or triplets.

If you like to treat The Sims 4 as a story-telling game, you might have already planned out your Sims' family tree for generations to come, or at least have some idea of where you want the family legacy to be headed.

The number and gender(s) of the babies who are born to your family in-game can obviously have a huge impact on where these stories lead.

While there are no guaranteed ways to determine the gender and number of babies your pregnant Sim gives birth to, there are a few things you can do to increase the odds of getting what you hoped for.

Gender, for example, can be influenced by eating certain foods and listening to particular genres of music.

How to increase chances of having a girl in The Sims 4

Eat Strawberries: Wild strawberries can be found growing in many locations around the game world, particularly the neighbourhoods of Willow Creek. Alternatively, you can buy strawberries from produce stalls (with City Living) or randomly get some when purchasing fruit seed packets (with Seasons). Planting strawberries on your Sims' home lot makes it easier to have some handy when you need them; however, with Seasons installed, they will only be harvestable in Spring.Listen to Pop Music: Available on any stereo, or by using earbuds if you have Fitness Stuff installed. A Sim can listen to stereo music while performing other activities in the same room as the object, while the earbuds are completely portable.

How to increase chances of having a boy in The Sims 4

Eat Carrots: Wild carrots can be found growing in many locations around the game world, particularly in the neighbourhoods of Oasis Springs. Alternatively, you can buy carrots from produce stalls (with City Living) or randomly get some when purchasing vegetable seed packets (with Seasons). Planting carrots on your Sims' home lot makes it easier to have some handy when you need them; however, with Seasons installed, they will only be harvestable in Spring and Fall.Listen to Alternative Music: Available on any stereo, or by using earbuds if you have Fitness Stuff installed. A Sim can listen to stereo music while performing other activities in the same room as the object, while the earbuds are completely portable.

An element of randomness seems to always persist, so you can't ever 100% guarantee that your attempts to influence the baby's gender will be successful.

However, the chance increases the more you eat the right food and listen to the right music, and combining both over the course of the pregnancy is more powerful than doing either in isolation.

How to influence multiple births and have twins or triplets in The Sims 4

If you are pregnant, the odds of multiple births are as follows:

Single baby: 89%Twins: 10%Triplets: 1%

Since you'll need to have a Sim give birth to triplets to unlock the 'Triple Play' Achievement/Trophy (more on that specifically below), that's a lot of waiting for the random number generator to smile on you.

As with gender, there's no foolproof way to ensure a multiple birth; but there are a number of things you can do to increase its likelihood.

Fertility boosts are most effective if they are used shortly before the 'Try for Baby' interaction. The following factors can influence your odds of having twins or triplets in The Sims 4:

'Fertile' Reward Trait: Purchased from the Satisfaction Reward Store for 3000 Satisfaction Points, 'Fertile' increases the chance of a successful 'Try for Baby' for the Sim who possesses the trait (whether they are the birth parent or not), as well as greatly increasing the chances for twins or triplets. This is the only method of influencing multiple births that is available in the base game.'On Ley-Line' Lot Trait: Sims who conceive on a lot with this trait should expect multiple births the majority of the time, though single births are still a small possibility. (Requires City Living expansion pack.)Elixir of Fertility: Sims with Level 10 in the Herbalism skill can brew this elixir recipe. Sims who consume it will have an increased chance of conceiving twins or triplets. (Requires Outdoor Retreat game pack.)Fertility Massage: Sims with Level 9 in the Wellness skill can give this massage, which results in the 'Fertility Boost' moodlet for the Sim who receives it. Engaging in 'Try for Baby' while the moodlet is active (12 in-game hours) boosts the odds of a multiple pregnancy. (Requires Spa Day game pack.)

How to get the 'Triple Play' achievement/trophy The Sims 4

Though the above will help with multiple births in general, the 'Triple Play' achievement specifically requires you to have triplets born into one of your Sim families in order to unlock - so you might want some additional tips.

Using all the above-mentioned methods in combination will almost guarantee a multiple birth, but unfortunately there's no way to specifically increase the odds of getting triplets as opposed to twins.

Even with all the fertility modifiers in use and the chances of a single birth almost eliminated, a pregnancy will still only result in triplets about 10% of the time.

However, these odds are still much better than the 1% base chance of having triplets randomly. If you want to focus on getting this achievement, choose a Sim family and begin by applying the 'Fertile' reward trait to both prospective parents. Then, depending on what expansions you have installed, you can make use of the 'On Ley-Line' lot trait, Elixir of Fertility, and Fertility Massage to further boost your chances of success.

It might take a few tries (and a lot of twins) to get this achievement, so be sure to age up and move out the older kids regularly to make room for your Sims' next attempt.

Alternative Method: If you really want the 'Triple Play' achievement but aren't too fussy about how you get it, there's a quicker route if you have Cats & Dogs installed. Breeding your pets (using the 'Encourage to Mate...' interaction) results in litters of one to three puppies or kittens at a time. Unlike human Sims, pets can expect twins from 50% of pregnancies, while single babies and triplets have a 25% chance each at the base rate.

Applying the 'Breeding Ground' lot trait increases the odds of multiple pet births even further. At the time of writing, the game considers cat or dog triplets to be good enough, and will unlock the achievement.

What to expect when your Sim is expecting: The trimester stages of The Sims 4 pregnancy

Once the 'Try for Baby' interaction is complete, the (possibly) pregnant Sim can use the 'Take Pregnancy Test' interaction on any toilet to find out if it was successful.

The test costs §15 and, if it's positive, the 'Eating For Two' (Happy +1) moodlet will appear, lasting for 24 hours.

If you decide not to do a pregnancy test, the 'Eating for Two' moodlet will appear of its own accord around 24 hours after the 'Try for Baby' interaction happened.

Note: Using a pregnancy test effectively shortens the length of a Sim's pregnancy, since it allows them to skip the 24 hour period of uncertainty which precedes the first trimester.

There are a few special animations that are used throughout a Sim's pregnancy, and they can be an early clue that 'Try for Baby' has worked.

The Sim will often appear nauseated while idling; sometimes this animation will be accompanied by a thought bubble containing toys, hinting at the possible reason for their discomfort.

All stages of pregnancy feature subtle but important changes in the pregnant Sim's physical needs. Their Hunger need will deplete more rapidly than usual, and their Bladder and Energy needs also run down a lot quicker.

These changes begin immediately after conception, and are another useful early sign of pregnancy.

Once the pregnancy is confirmed and the first trimester underway, the pregnant Sim will begin to gradually gain weight, eventually becoming very visibly and obviously pregnant.

Each trimester of pregnancy is accompanied by a new +1 Happy moodlet that allows you to track its progress. The 'Eating For Two' moodlet covers the first trimester of pregnancy.

The 'Pregnant: 2nd Trimester' moodlet also lasts 24 hours. A Sim in the second trimester of pregnancy might randomly experience Morning Sickness (a +3 Uncomfortable moodlet).

Using the 'Throw Up' interaction, available on all toilets during the first and second trimesters, does not actually relieve this moodlet; so it's better just to wait it out.

The 'Pregnant: 3rd Trimester' moodlet lasts a minimum of 24 hours. However, unlike the other pregnancy moodlets it isn't accompanied by a timer; instead, its duration shows as '???'.

This is because Sims do not go into labour at a set time; though in practice, it usually does occur around 24 hours into the third trimester. The expiration of this moodlet triggers the 'Pregnant: In Labour' moodlet, which grants Uncomfortable +40.

Giving birth in The Sims 4

Once the Sim has the 'Pregnancy: In Labour' moodlet, there are about three in-game hours to go until the birth, unless you intervene to make it happen sooner. There are a couple of options available once a pregnant Sim has gone into labour.

Home birth

With one exception (see Hospital Birth below), Sims will give birth only on their home lot. Once the pregnant Sim is at home and in labour, there are two choices: wait the three in-game hours for the baby to arrive, or speed things up by selecting the 'Have Baby' option (available both as a self-interaction and on any bassinets you may have already placed on the lot).

Note: You might like to decorate a nursery for the baby before your Sim gives birth; however, you don't strictly need to do this.

Babies are tied to the bassinet objects until they age up into Toddlers, so they won't need any other furniture until then; and if you don't buy a bassinet beforehand, one will magically appear once the baby arrives.

One painful-looking animation later and your Sim will be left holding their new son(s) and/or daughter(s). You'll immediately be given the option to name the baby (or babies - in the case of a multiple birth, the pop-ups will appear one at a time).

The Sims 4 allows you to pick both the first and last names, though the latter will default to the birth parent's unless you choose to change it.

Hospital birth

If you have the Get to Work expansion pack installed, Sims have the option of travelling to the hospital in order to have their baby. Once the Sim is in labour, select the self-interaction 'Have Baby at Hospital' and choose any Sims you wish them to travel with, and they'll go there immediately.

Once at the hospital, the Sim in labour can choose to 'Check In' at the front desk. From that point onwards, the game takes over: the pregnant Sim makes their way towards a room containing a surgery table, where a doctor will deliver the baby.

Giving birth in a hospital grants the unique Birth Certificate item, which can be found in the birth parent's personal inventory and placed as a wall decoration; but otherwise makes no lasting difference to game-play.

Our The Sims 4 cheats can help you fast travel your way to all sorts of bonuses in the game. Meanwhile, if you have expansions, we can help with becoming a werewolf, Fabrication in Eco Living, Tiny Living, how to become a Mermaid, how to become a Spellcaster, High School and attending prom and University Degrees and Distinguished Degrees. In June 2020, we also saw the free addition of ladders in The Sims 4.

How to adopt in The Sims 4

If pregnancy doesn't appeal but you still want to grow your Sims' family, adoption is a perfectly workable alternative.

Any Sim who is a Young Adult or older can begin the adoption process by selecting the 'Household > Hire a Service' option on their phone and choosing 'Adopt a Child' from the list.

A panel showing potential adoptees will appear, and you can choose which of the Babies, Toddlers, or Children your Sim will adopt. Only one child can be adopted at a time, so there's no adoption equivalent to getting twins or triplets.

Adoption costs §1,000, and the adoptive parent will leave the lot immediately to collect their new child. If you're adopting a baby, it will appear in a bassinet on the lot once the adoption is complete, much the same as when a Sim gives birth, and a pop-up will appear introducing them.

They will already have a first name and will be given the adoptive parent's last name by default, but you are able to change either if you want.

Adoption grants the 'Ready-Made Kid' (+3 Happy for 24 hours) moodlet, with the Sim emphasising their happiness at having skipped the uncomfortable pregnancy part.

If the adoptive parent is married, their spouse will be recognised as the child's other parent; however, if a couple attempt to adopt while engaged or dating, the adopter will be considered a single parent.

Other ways to get pregnant in The Sims 4

As well as the methods above, there are other types of pregnancies available in The Sims 4...

Occult pregnancies

Not every Sim in The Sims 4 is strictly human. To date, the occult creature type line-up includes ghosts, aliens, vampires, mermaids, spellcasters, and Servos. Ghosts and Servos can't 'Try for Baby' to have biological children (though they can still adopt), but the rest can get pregnant and have babies just like an ordinary Sim.

An occult pregnancy works more or less like any other in The Sims 4, except that there's a chance of the baby(ies) inheriting their parents' interesting conditions. There are no hybrid creature types in The Sims 4, so in couples of different creature types, each parent has a 50/50 chance of passing on their occult trait to their offspring.

Creature type can be viewed in Create-A-Sim once the baby ages up into a Toddler, but occult behaviours don't manifest themselves until the character becomes a Teen; so it might not be immediately obvious who the baby takes after.

Vampire pregnancy

If you have the Vampires game pack installed, applying the 'On a Dark Ley-Line' lot trait adds a pretty fun twist to pregnancy.

Not only does it increase the chances that a human / vampire couple will produce a vampire baby above the 50% base chance; it can even cause non-vampire couples who conceive on the lot to have a vampire baby!

Werewolf pregnancy

Now that there's a Werewolf game pack for players to work with, it also means that you can start your very own Werewolf family!

Much like vampires, Sims that WooHoo with Werewolf Sims have a 50% chance of giving birth to a baby that will grow up to be a Werewolf. Usually you won't know whether your baby is a certain occult until they become teenagers, however Werewolf babies and toddlers are known to howl occasionally. Or, if you're sick of waiting, you can cheat by looking in CAS to see if they have a Werewolf form or not.

Alien pregnancy

If you have The Sims 4: Get to Work expansion pack installed, there is a possibility that your Sims may be abducted by aliens. Long-term fans of the franchise will know that alien abduction can have a very specific and unusual effect on male abductees.

In The Sims 4, any Young Adult, Adult, or Elder abductee who the game recognises as male (regardless of any Custom Gender Settings applied to him) has about a 25% chance of returning home pregnant with an alien baby.

The pregnancy will be surprisingly normal, playing out more or less identically to pregnancies that were conceived of by more traditional means.

The Happy moodlets associated with regular pregnancies will be replaced with a series of mild Uncomfortable moodlets, as the pregnant Sim tries to understand the reasons behind his sudden weird symptoms.

Once the baby is born it will always belong to the alien life state, with all the special abilities belonging to that occult creature type. There's even an achievement in the Origin version of the game called 'Special Delivery' that specifically requires you to have a male Sim give birth to an alien baby.

'Try for Baby' with an alien

It's well-established that male Sims - and only male Sims - can become pregnant via alien abduction. However, there's a little confusion among players as to how things work if you use 'Try for Baby' with an alien partner.

To clear things up: if, for example, a female alien (with the 'Can get pregnant' setting) and a male human Sim (with the 'Can get others pregnant' setting) decide to 'Try for Baby' together, the female alien will be the birth parent, as in any other pregnancy that was initiated in this way.

Only alien abduction and off-screen 'pollination' (ew) will result in male Sims experiencing 'alien pregnancies' as covered earlier in this guide.

Hybrid pregnancy

With so many different Occult Sims out there, it's entirely possible you'll WooHoo and get pregnant with another Occult Sim's baby. Which brings us to the all-important question: are there hybrid babies in The Sims 4?

Unfortunately the answer to that is rather simple: no. Despite there being Vampires, Werewolves, Mermaids, and Aliens, if you are one or the other, and you fall pregnant with another Occult Sim, that doesn't mean your baby will end up as 50% A and 50% B. Instead, it is all up to chance. For example, if you're a Vampire Sim and you end up pregnant with a Werewolf Sim, it's likely that your Sim will either be a Werewolf or a Vampire, not a combination of the two. This goes for other Occult Sims, as well.

Pregnancy and Baby Cheats

Would it even be The Sims 4 if there weren't a few cheats you could use to make things more fun? As ever, save your game before attempting any of these!

Speeding up pregnancy using cheats

Say you want your Sim to have a baby that's their biological offspring, but don't want to wait three or four in-game days and deal with the hassle of pregnancy. The following cheat allows you to skip straight to labour once your Sim is confirmed pregnant (i.e. has the 'Eating for Two' moodlet).

With the pregnant Sim as the active character, open the cheat console and enter: Sims.Add_Buff Buff_Pregnancy_Inlabor. (Note the American spelling of 'labor' if it's tripping you up.) This will immediately trigger the 'Pregnancy: In Labour' moodlet, allowing your Sim to have the baby.

Alternatively, if you just want to skip a little way (or even roll back the clock on the pregnancy for whatever reason), instead of 'Inlabor' type 'Trimester#', replacing '#' with a number '1', '2', or '3', to set the appropriate pregnancy moodlet for whichever trimester you choose.

Forcing single babies, twins, triplets, and more

OK, so there's no official way to ensure that you get the number of babies you want. There's certainly no easy way to do it, even with cheats. However, if you're really dedicated to the idea of massively numbered offspring, the following sequence can help you to force the outcome:

Step 1: Found out your Sim's ID Number. In order for this cheat to work, you'll need to know the 18-digit ID number the game uses to recognise your Sim. To do this, open the cheats console and type: Sims.Get_Sim_ID_By_Name SimFirstName SimLastName. The ID number will show in the console. You can't copy-paste it, so make a careful note of it somewhere.Step 2: Force Offspring Count. In order for this part to work, the target Sim needs to already be confirmed to be pregnant with the 'Eating for Two' moodlet. With them as the active Sim, enter the cheat code Pregnancy.Force_Offspring_Count IDNumber #, replacing '#' with the number of babies you want them to have. This actually allows you to go beyond having triplets, if you want: you can choose any number up to your Sim's available household limit.