The Engineered Baby Boom

Life, Lottery, and Babies

The world's population had decreased dramatically over the last 10 years with women choosing careers over motherhood. By the time the female population were ready to have a child, most were experiencing infertility or difficulty with pregnancy. This situation led to less than 100,000 births worldwide each year since. To fight against the decline in population, governments around the world began the Baby Boom Lottery. 

At eighteen every eligible person would enter the matching system to be placed with a perfect mate who together would produce the highest quality children. Exceptions applied of course. If a vow of celibacy was taken, sexual preference would not allow for pregnancy, or a relationship already exists, with compatible genetics the lottery could be skipped.

Additionally, more unique circumstances played roles in the process as well, and for Supermodel Adrien Agreste that was the case. After growing up under his father's thumb, being the most handsome and eligible bachelor in Paris, as well as home schooled with limited relationship opportunities, he was given a golden ticket. The gorgeous, blonde with bright green eyes, and the bone structure of an Adonis was not a conventional participate in the Baby Boom lottery, receiving a list of all eligible women to choose from due to his high-profile life. Every woman in Paris wanted to be chosen by the model. Whether the reason be his money, fame, or perfectly muscled physique. It was all Nadia Charmac spoke of on the news for the last few months. This gave Adrien the opportunity to choose his mate as long as they matched and could genetically create a perfectly healthy child.

------------------------------------------------

Marinette Dupain-Cheng did not have the same luxury as the famous model. She was just an average Persian girl with an average Persian life. Well except for the fact that she moon-lights as a Red and Black clad superhero named Ladybug, which was really going to be an issue if she was going to be pregnant and fight her nemeses, Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. Now that she was eighteen, she would soon be entering the baby lottery. Her worst nightmare.

Marinette had kept her identity a secret for years. Five years to be exact. She had friends, yes, but she kept them at an arms-length. She had to keep everyone safe. That need to provide safety also influenced her love life. Marinette had never had a boyfriend. She didn't have the time nor the mental stability to maintain a relationship while trying to protect them too. The only people in her life were her kwami Tikki, who probably doesn't count as a person, and her Creole-French best friend Alya, who was the only person who knew she was Ladybug.

Marinette had eventually broken down, confessing to the one person she knew she could trust. The stress and anxiety became too much, especially since the black cat she was promised as a partner had shown up her first day as the enemy instead. She had, had no one until then. From the day she gave up her secret, Alya had been her confidant and the only person she was close with. Alya had taken up the post as side kick, wielding the fox miraculous and helping in the background during fights as Rena Furtive. Her job was to keep the black cat at bay, so Ladybug could free the akuma, purify it, and rebuild Paris.

Alya however, didn't understand what Marinette was going through. Even though she had turned eighteen months ago, she was in a long-term relationship. She had recently received news that her and Nino, a dark skinned, brown eyed, Moroccan boy turned man, who loved music and film making, were a match genetically. They were lucky. They could start a family with the person they love, not some random, scientifically researched match that the government thought was best for creating a life with.

Worst of all for Marinette though, wasn't knowing she would be assigned a man to create life with. No, it was the fact that now she would have to open up to someone else. Someone she didn't know. Someone she didn't trust. How could she hide her secret when living with someone in such an intimate way. How could she continuing her routine knowing that once she was matched, she would have to leave her well-hidden attic room, where it was easy to leave for akuma fights or bi-nightly patrols without her parents knowing. Her balcony giving her easy access to jump across roof tops without being caught. Keeping her secret was going to be difficult but she was going to do her best. If worse came to worse maybe she would grow comfortable enough to tell, even if her main priority was to keep everyone in Paris, including her match safe from the grasps of Hawkmoth and Chat Noir.