Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for March 26, 2025

Exactly! TJ is right! Stop all the scheduling and do it naturally, do it a lot, and have fun!

If a baby is meant to happen… it will.

.

Is the walnut eating advice really a thing? I’ve never heard that one before.

Being more hedonistic, rather than analytical, won’t necessarily boost their fertility rate, but it certainly can help them enjoy their affection with each other while they’re trying.

BTW — success is relative. The more success, the more relatives!

Ah, so this has gone on for months. How ’bout we skip over the next several months of nothing happening. You know things are bad when you start reading 9CWL for it superior logic and story-telling.

“No, sweetie, you weren’t an accident. And that’s putting it mildly.”

TJ’s parents’ freewheeling approach to living (which we heard about three days ago) apparently taught him to reassess his goals frequently and pivot easily when appropriate. Brad and Luann are both being advised to stop letting their earlier expectations limit their future possibilities.

Good luck trying to pluck Toni out of the ovulation tracking. It helps her feel in control and track something concrete. But she indeed needs to stop. Ovulation tracking is stressful which impedes conception. With Toni’s OCD, I believe they had been using birth control as Toni would want to be sure to prevent an unwanted pregnancy and/or being caught unprepared. Now that they can get off BC, why do ovulation tracking? Just go and have fun. You never tried before and don’t know whether it’d a easy thing – it might be. Yes, Toni, you prefer ovulation tracking because you know when your peak happens and when you will know that you’re pregnant by calculating from the date of the peak, etc, but your body is under stress. Time to let go and get surprised with a positive pregnancy test. It’ll be all in the fun.

My favorite restaurant — Ford’s Garage — has some great food, but they do miss it on a very few items. I once tried their salad with gorgonzola, shrimp and walnuts. I normally like all those ingredients okay. But the walnuts were rancid, and ruined the salad altogether.

…. So Brad might not benefit if he’s consuming rancid omega 3s.

Observant Catholics have been taught that sex for “fun” is a sin—it’s for procreation, only. Have either Brad or Toni been brought up in the Catholic Church?

It’s interesting that Brad is eating walnuts. A man’s prostate is the size of a walnut and it’s actually heart shaped. I know that as a prostate cancer survivor. I wanted to be physiologically correct here; but GoComics censored me.

Some couples try for years. Others don’t try and immediately conceive. Still others conceive despite preventative measures. If at first and all that…

But check out some adoption options just cover your bases.

Maybe TJ is right and the stress of doing everything that needs to be done is preventing them from getting the results they want. But I think it would also be a good idea to consult a specialist for a medical opinion and some reliable advice on what to do, not just using those taken from the internet.

Hey Brad, boxers or briefs?

Lust is the magic element, not going at it like a robot.

They need to try the backseat of a 1973 Impala.

Would not be any fun kissing with walnuts caught between the teeth. Hope Brad rinses.

Speaking as a long time guy who knows a lot of other guys… This is not a conversation that guys have.

A whole laundry list of chuckles The Count could say but actually, the very idea of Brad boinking a babe-o-licious Baberaham Lincoln like Tawny Tone’ Tattooed Toni makes The Count throw up in The Count’s mouth a little bit. Talk about a lowly unworthy. Brad, that is. And wait for this arc to end and you can’t spell “end” without ED which is how this arc will end. With Ed. At the end. Dilly! Dilly!

My two older sisters were 10 and 8 years into their marriages without any kids. The eldest and her husband adopted a baby boy. Yes, she got pregnant within a few months. So did my second sister! I have a niece and a nephew three weeks apart.

Reverse Cowgirl

Had a friend who was trying hard to get pregnant. including charting everything – nothing after several months. Both got checked – nothing medicaly or physically wrong. More months and still nothing. When out on a hiking trip, ‘Nature’ came calling and not the pee stop, Bingo, she got pregnant. Realized they were trying too hard especially after the next two came without really trying.

Hmmm.

This is quite a pickle for poor Brad, no pun intended.

But to suggest a possible answer to his current dilemma, I would ask: How many times did Jonah unexpectedly drop off the little “fun-killer” just as he Toni were about to “get busy?” ;-)

Maybe play some Frankie Goes to Hollywood??

Time to relax, Brad.

You want to keep it simple? Have TJ and Phil become gay lovers and let Luann move into the trailer with Les. You’re welcome.

WWP.

Most babies are an accident, Brad. Toni will probably become pregnant when you least expect it. Either that, or you might need some fertility medicine.

I have friends who were doing all the science but had problems getting pregnant. They did in vitro and had baby. Then 3 more surprises. She got tubes tied and had one more. They BOTH then went in and got snipped. She still refused to let him near her for about 6 months after.

So, you can’t make a baby unless you are having fun? If you say so TJ. All I know is that I had a lot of fun in college without making babies. At least I hope I didn’t make any babies. My wife might get a little upset if someone shows up at the door with a vague resemblance.

My friend tried for years. Finally they gave up trying, and went on a cruise. She came back knocked up!

Maybe Brad is stymied by having a guy listening on the other side of the drywall while he’s pile driving?

Is this a foreshadowing? Maybe the Shannon adoption that so many have already pontificated about is gonna happen after all.

TJ’s best advice, ever! Just let Nature take it’s course.

‘Relax and enjoy it, and then a baby’ is the dumbest advice. I see it in most versions of the no-baby story. The ingredients do not care if you had fun.

Finally, some good advice against the stress-filled over-analysis and micro-management. Stress can be a big factor in failing to conceive. It is not quit trying for the reason of having fun. It is quit trying to reduce the stress and let nature take its course.

Not necessarily, I went through fertility treatment for years before I got my kids, before that I lost three and when you only ovulate twice a year and it’s irratic, you have to take your temperature and utilize those times. Otherwise you’d still be trying when you’ve already missed your mark.

Will this lead to the adoption of Shannon? I hope not.

Sadly, all I feel like doing at this point is to yawn. I do miss when Brad and Toni did OTHER things in the comic. SOME “baby” discussion is of course viable and logical…. but it really is now the ONLY thing that they are ever involved in, IMO. In my opinion, it short changes these characters.

what they need to do is take a relaxing vacation around the right time.

There must be a lot of fun involved………

Relaxing is part of it. And it can realistically take months. A fertility specialist will usually refuse to consider even testing you unless you’ve tried for at least six months.

Walnuts?

This is yet another example of the G&K dysfunctional idea of marriage. To have a male friend living with them in the same small house and giving both the wife and husband directions about sex and conception is disgusting. Even MORE disgusting is the Brad character’s constant dependence on TJ for advice on everything in his marriage. From gifting to sex to having a baby, Brad cannot function without TJ. What a wimp.

Telling a member of a couple trying to get pregnant to “just relax” is a great way to get your head bitten off.

Well, not EVERYthing…

LuAnn is my FAVORITE strip of all time. But, this on again off again Brad-Toni pregnancy arc makes Mary Worth and Rex Morgan seen like they have dizzyingly fast plots!

(dizzyingly?)

All work and no play, makes Brad a dull boy

If they’ve been trying “for months” and are willing to do all that goofy stuff (Walnuts? I won’t ask!), how about going to the doctor?

I didn’t know there were walnut-eating police.

Infertility among young people in 2025 is a growing concern globally. Factors such as lifestyle changes, environmental stressors, contribute to this trend. Testosterone levels worldwide have seen a significant decline every year over the past 25+ years. In the United States, average testosterone levels have dropped again, decreasing nearly 24% since 2000. Likewise, there are concerning changes in estrogen levels. Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (found in plastics, pesticides, and personal care products), have contributed to these hormonal imbalances. These changes have affected both young men and women, leading to issues like early puberty, infertility and other health concerns.In other words, it’s NOT like it used to be in the ’80’s. And this is a serious concern for MANY couples attempting to start a family. Brad and Toni have lots of company.

Thanks to class society and sexual repression from the age of 3, we’re all kinked. Give into it.

Like the song says: “Relax!”

Fun is definitely involved, or it should be.

Speaking of TJ, does he date? Would like to see more of him in story lines.

Well, they are still under 30 so they should probably wait a year before going to a fertility specialist. Thinking that things happen because they are meant to happen doesn’t always work. Or make sense. Until then, try switching from briefs to boxers and enjoy yourself along the way…

… or alcohol.

Brad never gets anything right the 1st time, is this the exception ?

I enjoyed it. Not going into details.

Well Brad, that’s certainly one way to eat walnuts…

Good continuity.

Take the hint and spare yourselves decades of problems.

Not at all sure that most woman in human history were having fun while being impregnated.

Just like I said yesterday when you stop trying so hard it usually happena.

Hoping this arc ends soon. It has brought out the ugly in many of the commenters.

Brad and Toni need to try several different sexual positions, if they haven’t already. That will increase pregnancy chances.

Not that TJ would know from personal experience. And now I’m convinced Brad is 38 or so.

Brad is clueless – it’s called overthinking it dummy

Interesting subject here. TJ is saying that you can’t have procreation without some recreation.

Okay,now we have to start thinking up peculiar places for Toni to give birth in. And Brad takes her suitcase to the hospital and leaves her standing in the driveway