Werewolves and pregnancy

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

Okay, working on a short story dealing with a romance/relationship between a human girl and a werewolf guy, inspired oddly enough by the Fifties/early Sixties song "The Leader of the Pack" (yeah, her honey is the leader of a motorcycle gang of werewolves). One major plot point involves the girl getting pregnant and having to essentially move in with her man's pack (they're all in favor of him having a human mate, since they almost need a human in the logpile every so often to keep the stock from getting too wolfish and producing strange-looking people who have a hard time passing as human and may have significant problems shifting), since they're more accepting of her situation than her own family (staunch Christians in a small town, you get the idea).

I'm hung up as to how pregnancy in a human girl carrying a half-were. I've established a few things on pregnant weres: they have a harder time at controlling their ability to shift during the nine months, thus if they're turning fuzzy (Thanks, Jim, for that nifty turn of a phrase in "Day Off" :: Winks:: ), they can't stop it till it's run itself out (usually in twenty four to seventy-two hours); the baby is born looking like mom at the time of delivery, so if she's in wolf-form, the baby looks like a wolf pup, and if she's in human form, the baby looks human. However, young weres have a hard time controlling their shifting abilities until they reach puberty: thus, if it's a full moon, junior is going to go fuzzy no questions asked.

Which brings me to our gal: Does the kid stay in human form or will he come out looking wolfish till the moon changes phase? The latter is a bit of a freakish image, but I don't mind it.

[Ambassador of Odd]

If you've already established that the infant is born in the same form as the mother at the time of birth, I'd say option 1. From a literary standpoint, option 2 has more shock value, though.  Depending on your style, that may be either a good or bad thing.

[kero319]

does the girl become a werewolf after she's pregnant?
or does she stay human?

[The Corvidian]

I think that she would have the same cravings that a normal mother would have. Perhaps, with human mothers, the child doesn't start switching until after it is born.

[Starbeam]

How does any of this affect the girl if she's human and not were?  Or does she take on were traits because she's carrying a half-were kid?

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

Okay... in this universe, lycanthropy is a genetic-linked condition. You have to be born of were parents to be one. Our gal isn't affected by her kid's quirks inherited from his dad, but later on her kid grows up to be pretty much fully human (if a bit hairy) when he gets older, and for some odd reason (probably from having a human mom), he can't turn fuzzy, and thus doesn't turn during a full moon, but he *does* get a bit grouchy around that time, thus I'm working out the logistics of what he'd come out as when he's first born.

Freudian slip much? I typed "furst" at first...

[Wizwad]

Well, if it's not in him now, due to his genetics, to turn fully were - or even half were - then I guess you've answered the question.  If all he can get is a bit hairy, but it otherwise pretty much the human norm, then that's what he's going to be born as.  Possibly a bit hairy - but not outside the usual possible boundaries.

[Danny-boy]

I know this in no way answers your question...but I just had to say that your story idea is really cool.

[*Matt-D*]

Well if you look at it from a biological standpoint... you will have to decide what is the dominate traits if you use just simple Mendelian genetics. I would think that the were side would be more dominate, then you would have a hybrid that would look mostly like a were but might say be smaller than the normal, has a hard time shifting, and on a bright note, not tied to the lunar cycle  Now the kids of this one would be interesting if he took another human mate... or even a full were mate...

[Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon)]

Well if you look at it from a biological standpoint... you will have to decide what is the dominate traits if you use just simple Mendelian genetics. I would think that the were side would be more dominate, then you would have a hybrid that would look mostly like a were but might say be smaller than the normal, has a hard time shifting, and on a bright note, not tied to the lunar cycle  Now the kids of this one would be interesting if he took another human mate... or even a full were mate...

Odd you should bring this up, since this story ties into a series I'm working on, featuring a gal with mild paranormal abilities who works in a grocery store in a small town near Salem, Massachusetts, which in this universe, is almost a haven for all sorts of paranormal beings (I'm billing it as "a Yankee answer to Sookie Stackhouse), and the offspring of the human/werewolf pair is her semi-boyfriend (Not sure at this point if my heroine and her fella get serious, but that's for them to decide.).