# Rachel's pregnancy on Friends **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachels-pregnancy-on-friends/101987 "2002-04-05T13:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachels-pregnancy-on-friends/101987/1 "2002-04-05T13:18:00Z")
Is it just me, or does Rachel’s belly look more and more like a basketball is strapped to it? I know Jennifer Aniston is not pregnant in real life, but for crying out loud, could they at least make it look somewhat real?? I’ve seen better fake pregnancies on soap operas. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachels-pregnancy-on-friends/101987/2 "2002-04-05T16:36:04Z")
Looks real to me, especially since on last night’s show the bottom half of her belly was hanging out of her shirt. (GAG!) Keep in mind she’s a bony, bony woman and it probably WOULD look like a basketball strapped on her stomach. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachels-pregnancy-on-friends/101987/3 "2002-04-05T17:09:36Z")
Pregnant women don’t just gain weight in the stomach…the whole body puts on fat, to be used as reserves when nursing. There’s also more of a slope from the chest…and I agree, wearing a cropped shirt when you’re pregnant is not attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachels-pregnancy-on-friends/101987/4 "2002-04-05T17:45:13Z")
Comment the First: I once worked with a small pregnant woman who truly did look the same as before her pregnancy, except for the basketball. I, on the other hand, could pass for being 3-4 months along, and if I truly were pregnant, it would only be worse. Bodies are different. Comment the Second: At least she is wearing the thing. It was so pathetic when Helen Hunt refused to look pregnant throughout a whole season of Mad About You, until the birth episode. Please, actresses, you’re PLAYING a PREGNANT woman. No one will think you are FAT! ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachels-pregnancy-on-friends/101987/5 "2002-04-05T18:03:01Z")
I used to work at a company that was practically a creche – you could count on at least three women being pregnant at any time. Consequently I’ve seen virtually every physical type of Expectant Mother. One was an Asian gal, fairly skinny, whose pregnancy caused her to look like a skinny woman who had swallowed a basketball or two. By her ninth month (she worked practically till her water broke) you could have parked a coffee mug on her belly while she was standing up. Another woman, of fairly normal build, started “showing” in her _third_ month. I mean, we could tell she was going to have a baby even then. And this woman was by no stretch of the imagination a stick. Yes, I will agree that if Jennifer Aniston made the conscious decision to gain a few pounds for the sake of artistic integrity, it would look a little more believable. However, we must remember the Mantra of It’s Just A TV Show.