After Bridgerton S4’s heartbreaking ending, here’s if Francesca has children in the books

A heartbreaking part of Bridgerton season four was Francesca and John’s struggle to have children. Francesca believes she’s finally pregnant, but then is told she isn’t. If you’re wondering whether Francesca ever has children, then the Bridgerton book series has all the answers.

Francesca did actually get pregnant in the books

In Julia Quinn’s book When He Was Wicked, Francesca does get pregnant before John dies, but doesn’t tell anybody. Like in the show, other members of the nobility want to know if she is pregnant and who the Earldom of Kilmartin will pass to. A short time after telling people she is pregnant, Francesca sadly miscarries. (By “a short time”, I mean 15 pages of the book.)

The showrunner Jess Brownell has explained why the Netflix show handled this part of the plot differently. She told Swooon: “John’s death and the funeral are already in so many ways such a departure from the tone of the show. The miscarriage just felt like, for the screen, a bit too far. I think it would be difficult for Fran to come back from all that.”

Yes, Francesca eventually has two children

I can’t wait for more of this
(Image via Netflix)

Francesca also struggles with fertility in the the book series. After John’s death, she decides to pick a new husband in the hope she can have a baby with him. The book says: “When she married – she had to mentally commit to the idea – it wouldn’t be for love. She wasn’t going to have a marriage like the one she’d shared with with John; a woman simply didn’t find love like that twice in a lifetime. She was going to marry for a baby, and there was no guarantee that she would get one.”

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She ends up falling in love with John’s cousin – in the book series, this is Michael. In the Netflix show, this character is Michaela.

There’s a bonus short story in the book The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After, than begins three years after Francesca finds love with Michael(a). Francesca is the only one of the Bridgerton siblings not to have had a baby at this point. She does then get pregnant – and doesn’t tell any of her family until she rocks up to a family event at Aubrey Hall with a baby. She names her son John, and he looks exactly like her.

Francesca and Janet
(Image via Netflix)

A year later, the couple have a daughter called Janet Helen Stirling. She’s named “Janet” after her late husband’s mother, then Helen after Michael(a)’s mother. Janet apparently looks exactly like Michael(a).

We don’t know exactly how the Netflix show will adapt this part of the plot, but it sounds as if Francesca experiences in the show will be similar to the book. Jess Brownell told Swoon: “We’re still very interested in honouring the fertility storyline. It’s something we tried to honour this season, and we will continue honouring in her future season.”

Bridgerton is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Featured image via Netflix.