Moms-to-be credit 'Fifty Shades' for pregnancies
NEW YORK (AP) - Will little Sophia and Jacob morph into baby Christian and Anastasia about nine months from now?
While it's impossible to declare a "Fifty Shades of Grey" baby boomlet, some moms and moms-to-be attribute their pregnancies to sex inspired by the erotic trilogy that went mainstream early this year.
One night on vacation in Florida was all it took for Betsy Bailey, a labor and delivery nurse, no less, in suburban Chicago. She's expecting baby number six, conceived soon after reading the steamy bondage love story.
"It was like one night alone," she laughed. "We went out to dinner and, you know, a little wine, a little stone crab and a little Christian Grey."
Brittany Woodard, 21, in Norfolk, Va., has a 6-month-old son, Greyson, whose name has absolutely nothing to do with the books Woodard read while her military husband was away for four months.
New to the spicy genre, the stay-at-home mom wasn't trying for another baby so soon, but she was ready "with many new ideas" in the boudoir department when her husband got home. She's due in February.
"We just got stationed here a couple of months ago," Woodard said, "and the week I was going to pick up my birth control we found out we were having another baby!"
Ashley Nealy, 19, in Fayetteville, N.C., bought into the Fifty Shades buzz for the love story between dominant billionaire Christian and shy, clumsy Ana Steele, whom he attempts to groom as a sexual submissive, until cupid strikes and they live happily ever after.
With a year-old son, another baby wasn't on Nealy's front burner, but reigniting what she had with her fiance before their exhausting life as new parents was.
"Having a baby takes a toll on your relationship, especially as young as we are," she said. "Things had kind of died down, so I wanted to do something to help maybe get things back to the way they used to be between us."
Before "Fifty," they were down to once a week in the bedroom. "While I was reading them it was just about every day," she said.
Son Kayden's sibling is also scheduled to arrive in February.
At BabyCenter.com, a large online community of moms and expectant moms, nearly 150 women have posted that their pregnancies are directly related to more baby-making activity inspired by the best-selling books that have sold 31 million copies in all formats.
Bailey's No. 6 is due Christmas Day, her 42nd birthday. She and her husband always knew they wanted a big family, but they thought big would be four kids.
"We picked up our fifth in Mexico. He was a vacation baby as well," she joked. "We call him the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle."
Christian and Ana aren't on her name list, though her great-grandmother's maiden name, Gray, had been a possibility - until now. "Now I don't think I could do it," Bailey said.
While it's impossible to declare a "Fifty Shades of Grey" baby boomlet, some moms and moms-to-be attribute their pregnancies to sex inspired by the erotic trilogy that went mainstream early this year.
One night on vacation in Florida was all it took for Betsy Bailey, a labor and delivery nurse, no less, in suburban Chicago. She's expecting baby number six, conceived soon after reading the steamy bondage love story.
"It was like one night alone," she laughed. "We went out to dinner and, you know, a little wine, a little stone crab and a little Christian Grey."
Brittany Woodard, 21, in Norfolk, Va., has a 6-month-old son, Greyson, whose name has absolutely nothing to do with the books Woodard read while her military husband was away for four months.
New to the spicy genre, the stay-at-home mom wasn't trying for another baby so soon, but she was ready "with many new ideas" in the boudoir department when her husband got home. She's due in February.
"We just got stationed here a couple of months ago," Woodard said, "and the week I was going to pick up my birth control we found out we were having another baby!"
Ashley Nealy, 19, in Fayetteville, N.C., bought into the Fifty Shades buzz for the love story between dominant billionaire Christian and shy, clumsy Ana Steele, whom he attempts to groom as a sexual submissive, until cupid strikes and they live happily ever after.
With a year-old son, another baby wasn't on Nealy's front burner, but reigniting what she had with her fiance before their exhausting life as new parents was.
"Having a baby takes a toll on your relationship, especially as young as we are," she said. "Things had kind of died down, so I wanted to do something to help maybe get things back to the way they used to be between us."
Before "Fifty," they were down to once a week in the bedroom. "While I was reading them it was just about every day," she said.
Son Kayden's sibling is also scheduled to arrive in February.
At BabyCenter.com, a large online community of moms and expectant moms, nearly 150 women have posted that their pregnancies are directly related to more baby-making activity inspired by the best-selling books that have sold 31 million copies in all formats.
Bailey's No. 6 is due Christmas Day, her 42nd birthday. She and her husband always knew they wanted a big family, but they thought big would be four kids.
"We picked up our fifth in Mexico. He was a vacation baby as well," she joked. "We call him the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle."
Christian and Ana aren't on her name list, though her great-grandmother's maiden name, Gray, had been a possibility - until now. "Now I don't think I could do it," Bailey said.
If I were a woman, I'd be embarrassed and insulted by this article.
Have these women ever heard of birth control?
I think it's kind of funny that they are now labeling these books "mommy porn" and that some libraries have even sought to ban them.
@takncarabizniz What I don't understand is how so many women are reading this crap like it's something new and now all these pregnancies? I bet these are the same women who would be upset if they caught their husbands watching porn.
Does a 19 year old mother and a mother of 5 kids already really need any extra encouragement to procreate from an erotic novel?
Oh good grief. Don't most people have sex while they're on vacation? And also when they haven't seen their spouse for awhile? They would've had sex and gotten pregnant had they never read the book.
I completely agree. I read the first 100 pages of the first book and thought it was the worst book I've ever read. The writing is terrible and the plot is even worse. There's no depth to the characters and the author repeats herself over and over again. I'm not uptight about the subject matter. I could care less. But it's amazing to me that such a poorly written book is such a bestseller.
 @wthdotcom Want to hear something REALLY funny to make this, shall we say, "slightly more tolerable?"http://www.jest.com/video/174214/gilbert-gottfried-reads-fifty-shades-of-grey
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Definitely great for laughs!
 @wthdotcom You're welcome!
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Even though they're badly written (shudder! I've read so much better!), one thing I am glad of is that the books are helping people with their sex lives; a very good thing!
Ha - thanks for posting. I listened to just the first few seconds. Looks like there's a lot of good stuff on that page so I'll watch more later.
@wthdotcom I don't think people are reading it for the quality of writing or the plot. ;-)
 @wthdotcom What we do need to understand is that everyone has different acceptance/comfort levels. If 50 Shades is what gets them off, that's good they're getting off! I shouldn't have to remind everyone that weirder things can get people going!!
People have too much time on their hands then. I've read other reviews that say there are better books on BDSM so if that's what they really want, go that route. I'm just surprised people would waste their time on these books when if they really want to be aroused or get ideas, watch a 5-minute porn video or get a book that is actually written well.
Please tell me how a woman gets sexually aroused reading a book about a woman being groomed to be a sex slave. I have a few friends who read this crap however I have no interest in glorifying sex abuse.
 @Robinsnest That being said, I do not read these books...I have enough imagination all by myself! ;)
 @Robinsnest It is NOT "sex abuse!" A very common misconception. True, there are jerks who think that slaves and what-not should be truly humiliated without any thought to the sub or slave - and this is the WRONG way to do things in the BDSM world or ANY world! True masters/doms will take the time to NEGOTIATE rules and safety procedures, such as how far to go, safe words to use to stop when things are too far, etc. When discussion like that occurs, it's not abuse. Things MUST be agreed upon for a healthy BDSM or other sexual relationship to happen.
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BDSM, of course, is not for everyone. I like it myself, but not the super-extreme stuff. Everyone has a limit. When someone forces someone PAST the negotiated limit WITHOUT PERMISSION, THAT is ABUSE.
This cracks me up!!!
I'm embarrassed for the women who read this garbage.
What about the men that are reading it?
 @KOMO Viewer Even funnier!!
 @Shelly I'm embarrassed that you can't accept that women are sexual beings, too. But porn is acceptable for men, right?
 @goattie123 You read all that in my statement? Ok...lol
@goattie123 @Shelly I don't believe she said anything against women being sexual beings, or saying porn was ok for men.
 @KOMO Viewer  @goattie123  @Shelly Porn is ok for both men & women if you ask me, I was commenting on the garbage that is those three books.Â
Shelly doesn't say that she can't accept women as sexual beings. Maybe she's embarrassed like I am because women (people, in general) should have much higher standards for what is put on the bestseller shelves. As I mentioned in another post - forget about the subject matter - the writing is terrible! I couldn't get past the first 100 pages because it was so poorly written and the characters had no depth. Even the first 100 pages were a waste of my time but at least I got a good idea of what all the hype is about (although I still haven't figured that out).