Summary

• Gabby's unexpected motherhood in Desperate Housewives was a shock, but it was foreshadowed by her miscarriage in season 2.
• Season 5 of the show explained Gabby's daughters' arrival through flashbacks during the time gap between seasons.
• The plot twist of Gabby having children after her accident was not impossible, but rather poorly explained in the series.

The time jump at the very end of season 4 of Desperate Housewives propelled the events of Wisteria Lane five years ahead, but it was never explained how Gabby was able to have children after her accident in season 2. The series originally kicked off with a group of women dealing with the aftermath of the death of one of the housewives in their neighborhood. Scandals and drama followed the women as they uncovered the truth behind mysteries and gossip on Wisteria Lane.

Season 5 of the ABC dramedy premiered in September 2008, picking up where the previous finale had left off. During this viewer time gap, Gabrielle “Gabby” Solis (played by Eva Longoria) and the show's other main characters had been going about their lives. Naturally, things changed and progressed, but the most glaring difference from where the series left off was that Gabby suddenly had two daughters, whose names were revealed to be Juanita and Celia.

Gabby's Season 2 Accident Meant She Might Not Be Able To Have Children

...she started to warm up to the idea of motherhood.

The reveal of Gabby's daughters came as a shock for many reasons. One, of course, was that Gabby had been emphatic about not intending to have children in Desperate Housewives' early seasons. She did, however, eventually decide that she wanted children.

In season 2, after discovering that she was unexpectedly pregnant and suffering from some subsequent distress, she started to warm up to the idea of motherhood. Unfortunately, she suffered a tragic miscarriage when she accidentally fell down a flight of stairs while trying to elude a home intruder. It was after this loss that Gabby was told that she might not be able to have children again and seemed to accept the possibility that biologically having a child was unattainable, which made the little girls' post-time jump presence seem like an initial incongruence.

Gabby and Carlos even attempted to have a child via surrogacy with their maid, Xiao-Mei—though this endeavor was ultimately thwarted due to a bizarre mix-up where another couple’s embryo was implanted instead. Time and time again, the Desperate Housewives husband and wife seemed to have no luck with having children. But although fans were initially left scratching their heads at this sudden childbearing shift in the plotline, the logic does add up in the writers' favor.

Season 5 Explains Gabby's Daughters' Arrival Through Flashbacks

She was as surprised as viewers when she found out she was pregnant with Juanita...

Because of the time jump after season 4, there were quite a few people and plot points that surprised the Desperate Housewives fans. Because of that, there were plenty of flashbacks to explain them. The series used flashbacks to depict Gabby finding out that she was pregnant with each daughter during the time gap, being shocked and distraught both times for different reasons. She was as surprised as viewers when she found out she was pregnant with Juanita as she hadn't thought it was possible after her accident.

But it was never definitively stated that Gabby couldn't conceive again. She was told that it was highly unlikely and she would have to wait to try again. And, in the wake of a potent emotional Desperate Housewives loss such as that, the couple wasn't actively trying to conceive another child, but, most likely, they weren't as diligent about contraception. As viewers know from the pregnancy that ended in miscarriage and the surrogate pregnancy with Xiao-Mei, the couple was able to conceive without issue, it was just a matter of whether Gabby's body was able to heal.

During the time gap, it was completely possible for Gabby and Carlos to have more children. The issue lies more in the show's lack of explicitly addressing how this plot shift came to be. And, of course, there's an argument to be made about the show's writers not sticking to their guns regarding Gabby's early wish to live happily as a woman without children. But, from what Desperate Housewives has depicted, Juanita and Celia's existences were more clumsily injected into the plot than they were flat-out impossible.