Wednesday 4 May 2005

Pic of the day: A slightly unusal family: Mother, mother and two kids of two different colors. Screenshot from The Sims 2.

Lesbian Sims and adoption

This entry is about the game The Sims 2, not about real life. In real life there are many other things to consider, such as religion. Religions typically take a dim view on same-sex marriage. So you might think twice about trying any of this in real life. That said, let the games begin!

I had read somewhere that Sims will not develop romantic feelings for someone of their own sex unless pushed that way by the player; but once there, they will keep this alignment for the future. This may have been so with the original Sims, perhaps. But for May Mayflower, there was never a time where she had romantic feelings for boys. Or indeed for anyone except for Jenna Cameron. The two young girls met at the university. Despite being a very nice person, May had trouble getting friends at the dormitory where she lived. So it was only natural that when Jenna walked by, May stopped and talked to her. The two girls hit it off great, and from then on Jenna would often call and they would talk on the phone for a long time.

After May graduated from the university and got a job back in Pleasantview, she would almost every day call for one of her old friends to come over. And when Jenna came over, May felt something she had never felt before: A wish to flirt. From then on, things happened fairly quickly.

***

For quite a while, May and Jenna lived together and shared a big bed and a small table. Only when Jenna called the adoption agency and was allowed to adopt a toddler, did they realize that officially this was Jenna's toddler, and May had nothing to do with it. This was not the best of news, because although Jenna is an alright person overall, she doesn't have the inherent super niceness of May. And the adopted babies are selected such as to be similar to their parents in personality. Not to mention that parents can encourage personality traits that they themselves have, in children, biological or adopted.

Shortly after this, May and Jenna got engaged and then married. (Actually their status is "Married/Joined", evidently these are two different names but the wedding party was very conventional with the both of them in white dresses. ^_^)

After the wedding, May wished to adopt a child. She also adopted a toddler, but this time both of them were listed as parents. The two children are presumably half-siblings in the eyes of the law, but in practice they are all a big family. Cara, the oldest of the children, is not showing much if any preference for Jenna, although she did as a toddler.

One small detail about adoption: Both May and Jenna are black, and so was Cara. I assumed that the children were selected for color as well, but I should have known better. Sims don't consider skin color an important facet of life at all. It is of course inherited, but that's all. So when Richard arrived, he was all pale and had red hair. But nobody pays any attention to that.

***

Lesbians (and presumably gays) can Woohoo all they want, but they can never Try for baby, so their "have a baby" want is "adopt a child" instead. Interestingly, Sims can adopt either a baby, a toddler or a school child. The child will start at the beginning of the chosen life phase.

Judging from the way Jenna was treated, it seems you can adopt even if you are single. I don't know if there are any other restrictions, such as whether you need to have a certain amount of money or space in your house. (Actually the Mayflower family has a rather small house, just barely big enough to squeeze in everything they need, so I doubt that's it.) I suppose straight families could also adopt, bypassing the discomfort of pregnancy; but a genome is a terrible thing to waste.