A possible explanation for the pregnancies might be... Catholicism? A philosophical objection to contraceptive implants?
Perhaps in a few. Seventeen missing implants is a fairly small number, and might be accounted for by a number of different unlikely causes: a tiny fraction of religious objectors, a handful of deliberate removals by Vorrutyer, and a few cases of bad timing--women who'd had their implant removed deliberately a day or two before war hit their area.
Or perhaps no implants is fairly widespread on Escobar, and the seventeen are just those who'd rather ship babies to the fathers. The rest might've kept them, or placed them in Escobaran orphanages rather than risk whatever Barrayar does to war-orphans.
(There's a nice fanfic premise: Unknown Barrayaran bastard heirs, alive on Escobar.)
no subject
Perhaps in a few. Seventeen missing implants is a fairly small number, and might be accounted for by a number of different unlikely causes: a tiny fraction of religious objectors, a handful of deliberate removals by Vorrutyer, and a few cases of bad timing--women who'd had their implant removed deliberately a day or two before war hit their area.
Or perhaps no implants is fairly widespread on Escobar, and the seventeen are just those who'd rather ship babies to the fathers. The rest might've kept them, or placed them in Escobaran orphanages rather than risk whatever Barrayar does to war-orphans.
(There's a nice fanfic premise: Unknown Barrayaran bastard heirs, alive on Escobar.)