‘Sex and the City’ Hid Sarah Jessica Parker’s Pregnancy With the Perfect Carrie Bradshaw Accessory

In 2002, a Sex and the City pregnancy through a wrinkle in the show’s plans. Unlike Carrie Bradshaw, who was often single and ready to party, actor Sarah Jessica Parker’s real life was a lot more settled. Not only was she happily married while filming the series, but Parker also became pregnant with her first child in 2002, which was hidden from viewers’ eyes during the fifth season of SATC.

Was anyone pregnant during ‘Sexy and the City’? Both Cynthia Nixon and Sarah Jessica Parker

Pregnancy for Sex and the City‘s Carrie Bradshaw wasn’t in the plans, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t in Parker’s. Five years after she tied the knot with actor Matthew Broderick in 1997, Parker became pregnant with their first child. The actor learned she was having a baby right before filming for season 5 of Sex and the City began — which is why the season was both delayed and cut short.

Ironically, Parker’s co-star Cynthia Nixon (who played Miranda Hobbs on the show) was also expecting a baby off-screen during that time. But unlike Nixon, Parker’s pregnancy wasn’t written into her character’s storyline. So yes, Miranda was actually pregnant during Sex and the City.

How writers hid the Carrie actor’s pregnancy in season 5

While Sex and the City used pregnancy for Miranda, the writers never even considered doing the same for Parker’s. Since Carrie Bradshaw wasn’t the settle-down type, writers felt that including Parker’s pregnancy in the series would have been inauthentic for the character.

So instead of changing up Carrie’s storyline, writers decided to hide the actor’s pregnancy on the show — and came up with some pretty creative ways to make her baby bump go unnoticed.

By having Parker wear baggy designer threads and cover up her growing belly with Birken bags, writers were able to mask her pregnancy in the eight episodes that aired that season. Parker’s pregnancy also answers the question of why season 5 of Sex and the City was cut short.

Is Sarah Jessica Parker’s newborn son in ‘Sex and the City’?

One month after the last episode of Sex and the City Season 5 aired, Parker’s son, James Wilkie Broderick, was born on Oct. 28, 2002.

Shortly after giving birth, Parker returned to work. But some seem to think that she didn’t go back to the set alone.

Months following James’ birth, rumors began to swirl that the newborn had made an appearance on SATC after many believed that Aidan Shaw’s baby, Tate, was played by Parker’s real-life child.

However, Parker set the record straight on this ongoing speculation on Instagram in May 2020, insisting that James did not baby Tate and has never appeared on SATC.