A breeding kink, where a person is turned on by the risk of becoming or getting someone pregnant, is an often-misunderstood kink that can include various practices, sex experts told Insider.
It's rooted in the fantasy of getting pregnant, but not real-life wishes to raise a baby, sex educator Gigi Engle told Insider.
"A lot of it has to do with the fact that you don't really want to get pregnant, which makes it really hot in the moment because you're doing something very dangerous. That's really the erotic charge behind it," Engle told Insider.
She added that it's a fairly common fetish, considering how most people learn about sex when they're young.
"I think a lot of it comes from the way we were taught about sex education, and this very danger-of-sex mindset, rather than pleasure," said Engle.
You don't have to be able to carry a pregnancy to have a breeding fetish
Since a breeding fetish is rooted in fantasy, it's not only reserved for people in opposite-sex heterosexual relationships, Sam Hughes, a social psychology PhD candidate who studies kink at UC Santa Cruz, told Insider. People in same-sex couples and transgender women, for example, may have breeding kinks.
For some, a breeding kink can include fantastical elements, like getting impregnated with alien eggs. Engle said there are sex toys made for this specific fetish, called ovipositors, which resemble dildos and insert a gelatin egg into the vagina or anus.
Women who can get pregnant may have a breeding kink, but don't want to get pregnant in real life, while men may be turned on by the fantasy of accidentally getting someone pregnant or becoming pregnant themselves, said Hughes.
"People who don't want children may find that very erotic because you don't really want a child. That taboo, or those negative feelings in real life, is what gives the erotic charge. Basically, anything that's taboo and anything that subverts your reality creates erotic desire," Hughes said.
Birth control isn't always involved, so discussing boundaries beforehand is important
Since some people find the risk of getting pregnant the most erotic part of a breeding kink, they choose to have sex free of birth control or condoms, Hughes said.
"This is a way to sort of feel like you free yourself from unreasonable expectations that are put on women to handle basically 100% of their responsibility for birth control," Hughes said.
That's why it's important to discuss STI status and your limits before engaging in a breeding fetish with a new partner, or during any kind of sex, according to Engle.
Do you have a breeding kink, and want to share your experiences? Email the author at jnaftulin@insider.com.
