Outlander author explains why Jamie and Claire didn’t keep baby Bonnie

Over the course of Outlander, we’ve seen Claire and Jamie reunite, part, and reunite again, and throughout all of that, they never got the chance to raise a baby together. Claire was pregnant with Brianna when she went back through the stones as Jamie prepared for the Battle of Culloden. He missed out on that, and it’s always gnawed at him. So after being left with Fanny Beardsley’s baby at the cabin in season 5’s “Free Will,” the pair had another opportunity. Claire seemed pretty attached to the baby, and Jamie was smitten over Claire’s happiness.

But when Jamie asked her about keeping the baby, Claire confessed she liked their lives together now; raising a baby just didn’t make a lot of sense. I feel for Jamie because he sees this as an opportunity to do the one thing they missed out on. But at the end of the day, his happiness lies with Claire’s, and ultimately, they made the decision to let a local family take the child.

“Please know that I love you even more for wanting to take the chance,” Claire told him. “I so regretted that we were never parents together, but regret isn’t enough. I love our life together. I don’t think we would be the best home for her.”

Speaking to Parade.com, Outlander author Diana Gabaldon explained why things played out this way, and why this particular decision was the way to go.

"Jamie asking Claire whether she wants to keep Bonnie is the epitome of tenderness. It touches on their mutual regret that they were never parents together, and his longing during their years of separation–hoping that his child had survived, and imagining Claire as a mother, holding his baby…and knowing that he’d never see that. Claire gives him a beautiful, tender answer: she shares his regret, but regret is not enough. And together they make the decision to give the baby to Lucinda, a young mother who lost her own baby at birth, and has both love and milk in abundance."

And this is why, ladies and gentlemen, Jamie Fraser is the man of everyone’s dreams. He let the love of his life go, despite her being pregnant with the baby, because modern times would be a better place to raise her and because he thought he was going to die in battle.

Of course, a big part of Claire also understands the responsibilities that go with raising a baby, something Jamie hasn’t had to deal with.

"Well, in purely storytelling terms–as per book, I mean–you don’t want a baby hanging around all the time. I have three kids (presently 33, 35 and 37) and two grandsons (2-½ and 6 months), and I have vivid memories of what life is like with a baby/small kid in close range. Either I would have had to have Claire find somebody to palm the kid off on all the time–which would make her look non-maternal and cold-hearted–or she would have had to stop going to battlefields with Jamie…[which is] where the fun stuff happens. This is why Dragonfly in Amber starts 20 years after Outlander–to give Brianna time to grow up and be left, so I didn’t have to juggle a whiny little kid for chapters and chapters. I mean, small children are just not Interesting to anybody but their parents or grandparents."

Having said that, Jamie has sort of raised children in one way or another. He took on the responsibility of raising Fergus, became a stepdad to Laoghaire’s kids, and even helped his nephew, Ian, get away from home and find a life with more freedom. He does have that paternal love within him, but raising a newborn baby is a whole other ballgame, especially in the world of Outlander.

"To wit: if there’s a small baby in the equation, somebody has to watch, feed and change it. Constantly. And if this is the 18th century, Daddy is not a Mr. Mom; he pretty much has to be out tilling the fields, hunting deer and driving off bad guys, because he’s a whole lot physically stronger than Mommy, who by default is then stuck with the baby and thus housebound. No more wild adventures, except for the baby being threatened by something, and you can’t pull that one more than once or twice."

Fair enough.

The beauty of Jamie and Claire’s relationship on Outlander is that they are always willing to compromise for one another. It’s not a one-sided relationship and never has been. They understand and respect one another, with this being another example.

New episodes of Outlander air Sundays on Starz!

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