ASOIAF: Why are there so many instances of Targaryens producing stillborns?

Targaryens definitely have a higher rate of genetic deformity than usual.

It's not like there were more deformities in the past in our world. Genes didn't work differently in the middle ages than they do now. If birth defects have gone down in recent decades,, it's only because modern technology allows doctors to call certain deformities ahead of time and some mothers choose to have an abortion. But they've never been as high as the Targs'.

So  there is something up with the Targs and their deformities clearly. Maybe it's the incest and . Maybe they are just genetically prone to Harlequin babies, which in truth do look a bit scaly, twisted and monstrous(sad, sad, sad photos on the Internet, I won't put them here.)

But, you know, in a world where magic is a real force, it seems a bit dull to completely rule out magical causes.

So I do think it's the price that Targaryens (or, more precisely) Valyrian Dragonlord families) pay for their connection with the dragons.

 The truth is obviously lost or hidden and so each reader is free to make up their own mind until real evidence comes out--if it ever does, which I doubt.

But I believe is that it's all connected.

The incest and the 'dragon-blood'--and yes, I do believe that there is something different about the Targaryens(and other Dragonlords) and the deformed still-births are all inter-connected somehow.

I believe the prosaic maester's explanation of Targaryen genetics in A World of Ice and Fire is mostly anti-dragon propaganda.

My theory is that there is something magical about TArgaryen genes; and that's part of the reason why the Valyrians were so incestuous(quite aside from their obvious view of themselves as the Master Race.)

Will you find it in the books, explicitly stated? No, of course not. The books themselves are written in third-person limited; and the accessory tales are written by maesters--who are anti-dragon if Marwyn is to be believed--and I think he is to believed, old conspiracy theorist that he is.

But I believe that in the past, the Valyrians did something wonky to their own genes. They were obviously a people VERY steeped in magical lore.

As an aside, I believe quite fervently that the hatching of a dragon involves the sacrifice of an unborn child, among other mysterious elements--although there is no place in the books that explicitly mention that, of course: because nobody knows how to hatch a dragon in the books, so there's no one to tell us.

If the maesters  maester's know, they want it kept secret.

Lance LaSalle's answer to Why are the maester's responsible for the disappearance of dragons? ASOIAF

And that's what I think was going on at Summerhall, by the way.

Written Mar 18th, 2016