The Sims 4 pregnancy and having babies explained: How to have twins, triplets, a baby boy or girl and adoption explained

Just like in real life, pregnancy is a popular way for Sims to... make more Sims.
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 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.
 

• How can get pregnant in The Sims 4?
• How to get pregnant and 'Try for Baby' in The Sims 4
• Pregnancy odds in The Sims 4 explained
• How to influence gender and have a boy or have a girl in The Sims 4
• How to influence multiple births and have twins or triplets in The Sims 4
• What to expect when your Sim is expecting: The trimester stages of The Sims 4 pregnancy
• Giving birth in The Sims 4
• How to adopt in The Sims 4
• Other ways to get pregnant in The Sims 4

Looking for more The Sims 4 help? Our The Sims 4 cheats page to help fast track you to various aspects of the game.

How 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.