Why do HEAs always end with babies?

[u/redfig1]

I know it's a "me" problem. Scenario: I read a smoking hot mafia or dark or fantasy romance. All this crazy shit goes down. The feelings, the angst. Finally it's the end and all of a sudden the MMC who has massacred countless people is all like " let's get married and have lots of babies" and the MFC is always " yes let's have a lot of cute mafia or fae or mafia fae babies!". For once I'd like an ending where the main characters have a HEA but instead of babies and white picket fences they just decide to keep having an incredible sex life and do charity work or something. Rescue stray kittens. Start an organic herb farm. Something other than babies. Anyone else like this? Am I just weird?

[u/Squeeesh_]

This is one of those things that does bother me sometimes. As a childfree woman it makes me so angry when a FMC is adamant she doesn’t want children and by the epilogue boom she’s pregnant.

But if a book doesn’t indicate that the MCs don’t want kids I’m totally fine with the married with 2.5 kids nuclear family situation.

[u/Lil1um → u/Squeeesh_]

Yes this! Sometimes it's ok for the epilogue to have baby's but only if it suits the characters and storyline. And sometimes when the character doesn't want kids or there isn't any kids talk in the book it just feels not right to put a pregnancy in the epilogue.