With everyday I spend in this Virtual World, I am constantly amazed by its growing society. We have talked about Relationships that are formed in Second Life which leads to marriage both in world and out. Now we are going to take a look at the next step, the various ways you can have a family in Second Life.
Yes, you can get pregnant in SL and it is truly an amazing experience. There are several ways you can get pregnant in this virtual world. the most popular is the realistic approach, (other ways include just saying ‘I’m pregnant’ and increase the size of your avatar’s stomach for how ever long you want.), which means going through everything you would in Real Life, actively trying the old fashion way, picking out clinics, doctors appointments, shopping for clothes, and labour. It’s an experience, a very expensive experience.
Things you’ll need for a ‘real’ experience
A Pregnancy HUD: The way the Pregnancy HUDs work varies depending on the brand, but they all have the same propose, to make your avatar ( or your partner’s avatar) pregnant. They are normally found on the marketplace, which is where I found the Total Woman Tantra HUD but they are also available for purchase from the family planning Clinics across the Grid. The Total Woman Tantra HUD, created by Resident Tex Evans, is a HUD that is worn on the avatar and allows that avatar to experience her menstrual cycle, making the process of getting pregnant in Second Life a lot more realistic.
How can this be realistic? Well, the Total Woman Tantra HUD tries to work as it would in real life, with realistic odds, risks and the potential for birth control as well as the experience you would have if you were trying to get pregnant in the real world. The way it works is simple there are different stages which are 
represented by different colours.Check out the Tantra Website to Find out what each colour means.
The Total Woman Tantra HUD costs L$ 700.
Tummy Talker: A tummy talker is an attachment that tell you what is going on through out your Second Life pregnancy. Through emotes it tells you what your avatar is ‘feeling’.Just like the Pregnancy HUD, Tummy Talkers differ depending on the brand. A normal tummy talker will just tell you normal things such as, ‘your feet hurt,’ ‘your baby is going healthy’ and so on. Others will let you know when you are hungry and will even give you what you ‘carve’
Some Tummy Talkers cost around L$600 –L$750 but they can also be found in clinics and some will even give you a talker as part of their packages.
Clinics: If you want a real experience you will want to go to a clinic. Second Life Maternity Clinics do their best to make your experiences as realistic as possible, going as far as to have weekly check ups and real life medicinally trained staff. These Clinics can be quite expensive but if they are good you do get full use of your money. Some clinics even have Lamaze classes that are very helpful as a way of looking into what Pregnancy is like in Second life and in real life.
Over the new week I will be taking you through the stages of Having a Family in Second Life, from looking at one of Second Life’s Maternity Clinics, Clothing Stores, to looking at Baby stores, Adoption and the experience through the eyes of an SL mother. Stay with us to learn more about Having a Family in Second Life.