Why Bridgerton Aborted Francesca’s Pregnancy, Miscarriage After Transgender Reassignment

Bridgerton has made dramatic changes to the book over the years – including cutting Francesca’s pregnancy and miscarriage from the story.

During season 4, which ended on Thursday, February 26, Francesca (Hannah Dodd) mourned John’s husband (Victor Alli) to die when she thought she was pregnant. Francesca was forced to undergo an examination, which is when she found out that she was not expecting a baby.

The revelation was a departure Julia Quinn‘s When He’s Bad where Francesca miscarried weeks after John’s death.

“In the end, I think John’s death and the funeral are already a lot of ways away from the tone of the show,” showrunner Jess Brownell told Swooon. “I think episode 7 has some lightness, but it’s a much darker version of Bridgerton in a way that I think is really interesting, and especially in how we see the family come together.”

Brownell called the miscarriage “too bad” to add, saying, “We’re still very interested in honoring the issue of childbirth. It’s something we’ve tried to honor this season, and we’ll continue to honor it next season.”

He continued: “But yeah, the miscarriage just seems like, on screen, it’s so far away. I think it would be hard for Fran to come back from all that.”

Quinn, on the other hand, also weighed in on evolution in his original theory.

“I think [Francesca’s] the feelings are the same. I lost a pregnancy. I got pregnant three times between my two children,” she told the newspaper. And I think that changing the way her loss happened doesn’t affect her grief about that.”

Quinn recommended how Bridgerton he wandered about John’s death. “About five years ago, I lost my father and sister because of a drunk driver, so obviously that’s a sudden thing, like Francesca,” he commented. “I thought they handled it well, especially the sense of confusion. Because I think when you lose someone suddenly, there’s an important element to it.”

Elsewhere in his interview, Brownell explained why the show postponed John’s death after introducing him to the screen, to which he replied, “I think the biggest motivation behind that was to give us enough time to grieve John. Wherever Francesca’s season fell, we always felt that, if John died during her season, it would feel more urgent to deal with her grief.”

He concluded: “I think of Benedict and especially of Violet, losing John reminds them that we are all here for a short time and love is the most important thing we can pursue.”

Bridgerton is currently streaming on Netflix.