The HIMYF Sperm Donor Theory That's Making Its Way Around Reddit
Just like its predecessor, "How I Met Your Father" has inspired a healthy amount of fan theories about the identity of the titular father to Sophie's (Hilary Duff) child. With the story told by Sophie's older counterpart (Kim Cattrall), the show follows the same basic blueprint as "How I Met Your Mother" — a parent sits their kids down, holds them hostage, and forces them to listen to an increasingly convoluted, long-winded story about how the parent met their significant other.
In the modern update, we don't see Sophie's kid at all; he's video-chatting with his mom years after the main events take place, at which point, there are plenty of possible contenders for the father's identity. That said, some "HIMYF" fans think there's something else going on entirely. On a Reddit thread, u/TheGreatGena threw out one theory: "Jesse [Chris Lowell] is already the sons step father, and has been almost his entire life. I think the story will be sort of a double meaning, meeting the biological father AND the man the son considers his father (I believe it will be Jesse). This would be a similar theme to HIMYM, except they could pull off an ending no matter when they end." As their theory goes, Sophie either gets pregnant from a one-night stand, a sperm donor, or, like "HIMYM," the father dies and Jesse steps in to comfort her and help her co-parent.
Some How I Met Your Father fans think there will be a huge misdirect
"How I Met Your Mother" definitely had a lot of twists and turns when it came to the identity of the mother, and a lot of fans think "How I Met Your Father" will pull some similar tricks. On a Reddit thread called "Another ending theory," u/Asteriaofthemountain put forth another candidate who would serve as simply a donor to Sophie rather than a love interest: her best friend's ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Tom Ainsley). "We know Charlie is established as a guy who doesn't want his own kids but maybe he is ok with giving his sperm?" they wondered.
Actually, a lot of fans think that Charlie could potentially end up being the father, but that he won't get together with Sophie. Redditor u/Vegetable-Ad-8780 wrote out a lengthy theory about how Sophie could visit a sperm bank and end up with Charlie's baby, and then she and Jesse will raise it: "Watch it be all of them in some way. Sophie and Jesse wind up together and they find that Jesse can't get her pregnant. Sophie gets a mysterious sperm donor ... which she later discovers somehow is Charlie. ... So Charlie is the biological father and Jesse is the one raising the child." The rest of the theory goes that the whole gang helps co-parent with Sophie and Jesse.
Hopefully How I Met Your Father avoids the pitfalls of its predecessor
Whatever happens at the end of "How I Met Your Father," most fans can only hope that it avoids the mistakes that "How I Met Your Mother" ultimately made. The original creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, famously came up with the ending during the second season and filmed scenes with the kids while they were still young that they then used at the very end. What happened now is legendary amongst fans; after telling his children the story of how he met their mother Tracy (Cristin Milioti), an older Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) reveals to the audience that the mother died years before he started telling his tale. The kids then encourage him to reconnect with the "one that got away," their "aunt" Robin (Cobie Smulders).
To say fans weren't happy with the "How I Met Your Mother" ending is a large understatement, and the series finale is still buzzed about years after the fact. "HIMYF" has already made one very smart choice to avoid this fate by not showing Sophie's son — that way, nobody will be able to tell if he's aged, and the showrunners, Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, don't have to decide on the father's identity immediately. In any case, let's hope whatever bait and switch they pull works better than the original series' ending.
"How I Met Your Father" is available to stream on Hulu.