r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Totoro1985 • 2d ago

Nichole's paternity Question

So Serena eventually gets pregnant by Fred, which means that somehow he was fertile as well in the end.

Just wondering, I presume that while June was regularly sleeping with Nick by choice, the monthly ceremony was also regularly performed.

Does this mean that there could be a slight chance that Nichole is Fred's and not Nick's after all?

51 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

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113

u/rapt2right 2d ago edited 2d ago

No. It's been confirmed repeatedly by the show's writers and producers that Nick is Nicole's father....and neither the Canadian government nor the international authorities would have held on to that diplomatic hand grenade without verifying June's claims about the baby's paternity. It's not spelled out that a DNA test was done but it would have been, politically, far easier to send Nicole back to Gilead but with the biological parents both wanting her to stay in Canada they had a duty to leave her in Luke's care. If Fred could have proven paternity, they'd have honored his parental rights. (Maybe after negotiating some conditions or concessions)

24

u/Totoro1985 2d ago

Yes, as you say we can only assume that a DNA test had indeed been done, given that Serena was dead convinced that Nick was the father, I found it weird that Fred didn't request a DNA test himself on Nichole when he found out that Serena was pregnant. Imagine the political repercussions from that.

23

u/rapt2right 2d ago

Yeah, but Fred's ego would never let him believe that Serena cheated and definitely would not want to risk putting it on record that it was him, not Serena, that wasn't fertile. Also, proving Serena was unfaithful would shatter the "perfect traditional marriage " image & the illusion that Gilead is a place of morals & old fashioned values that he was still trying to get Serena to help him project.

13

u/Strange_Swimming_800 2d ago

found it weird that Fred didn't request a DNA test himself on Nichole when he found out that Serena was pregnant.

That's because he knew he wasn't Nichole's father before Serena got pregnant . He knew for sure in S3 when they were campaigning to bring Nichole home to Gilead.

As mentioned already, if he was Nichole's bio father, she'd be back in Gilead with him. The only reason they were able to continue on with the campaign to get her back was because, according to the laws of Gilead Fred and Serena, are her official parents and that holds a lot of weight. Nick and June wanted her to stay in Canada, which complicated things since they're her bio parents, and that also held a lot of weight when making decisions.

The showrunners didn't show it for some reason and just expect the viewers to connect the dots, I guess.

47

u/LolaLou_ 2d ago

All the babies in Gilead are given paternity tests in secret, I think they explained this in the testaments. Since commanders are mostly infertile the handmaids sometimes get pregnant by other men out of desperation, so paternity tests are done to avoid any accidental inbreeding in the future. They confirmed that nick was her bio dad

20

u/JaelAmara44 2d ago

Yes, I remember that, they have a detailed record of blood ties, hundreds of books explaining in detail the genetic connections between all the members of Gilead and their possible defecting relatives.

12

u/Cathousechicken 1d ago

I just want to add I think it's the Aunts that keep the records. That's likely part of the reason they have the exemption for reading and writing.

19

u/WeekendImpossible524 2d ago

Not sure if I remember fully and correctly but I think Serena took June to sleep with Nick bc she was convinced that Fred might be the reason June couldn’t conceive a child. And June got pregnant very quickly after being with Nick.

15

u/Bulky-District-2757 2d ago

It’s been confirmed by the shows writers that Nichole is nicks and Noah is Fred’s.

8

u/doesshechokeforcoke 2d ago

Bruce Miller confirmed that Nick is her biological father in an interview. Personally I think something should’ve been incorporated into the show because not everyone reads or watches every interview with the show runner/writer or the actors. It’s completely logical for viewers to question her paternity when we discover that Fred is actually capable of siring a child after years of thinking he couldn’t. According to BM it was because of clean living and organic foods.

6

u/jsm99510 1d ago edited 1d ago

If I remember correctly, BM said they didn't consider Serena getting pregnant throwing Nichole's paternity into question until fans started talking about it after the fact. That's why it wasn't addressed in the show really.

3

u/doesshechokeforcoke 1d ago

Why am I not surprised. He’s the one who initially said the ear tags were gps trackers after the episode where June cuts it out and then completely abandoned it later on.

12

u/theblacwidow 2d ago

If you search ‘paternity’ in this sub, you’ll find a load of previous posts about this subject. It’s been addressed a few times.

4

u/Totoro1985 2d ago

Ah sorry, I didn't 😄 I was watching an episode and I posted what went through my mind in that moment

1

u/Totoro1985 2d ago

I see that there have been multiple discussions on that already, sorry I will search next time 😊

16

u/44youGlenCoco 2d ago

Personally I don’t mind when someone post about what’s on their mind even if it’s been talked about before, because then they get to have a discussion about what they’re seeing. Reddit is a discussion forum lol

0

u/magenta_love 1d ago

I’m glad you ask the question. Because I haven’t thought about this. Or the possibility that Nick could have altered the results.

3

u/Complex-Guitar7097 2d ago

I never thought about that!

2

u/Fragrant-Forever-166 2d ago

I always wondered this

1

u/cycleangela 2d ago

The show crew has said that Nichole is Nick's child.

1

u/Intelligent-Pitch-39 1d ago

I have 2 questions...everyone assumes June took Nicole and Serena was not involved? Why wasn't June mamed or hurt more than slashes on her feet? Or do they believe Alexis Bleidels character took her?

2

u/MandyJo_1313 1d ago

Fred spun the story to hide the fact that his household was involved. They said that Emily kidnapped her and fled the country.

1

u/Intelligent-Pitch-39 1d ago

Did he realize Serena handed her over?

1

u/MandyJo_1313 1d ago

He realized it when she came up to June’s room and she told him that they needed to give June more time to get away

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u/This_Mongoose445 2d ago

Oh god, not this again! Let this die please!! This has been going on since the episode aired. It has been confirmed by the writers, show runners that Nick is the father of Nichole, that the father of Serena’s child is Fred, not Tuello. Serena’s baby was conceived under the damn uterus/fertility lamp. Just let it go.

7

u/Totoro1985 2d ago edited 2d ago

This sounds pretty sharp, if everyone in here had your attitude this forum would be dead lol.

Not sure what kind of discussions you expect from a sub dedicated to discussing a TV show