This How I Met Your Father Theory May Answer the Show’s Big Question
The identity of the father may still be a mystery after How I Met Your Father's cancellation, but there are some likely contenders.
With the unfortunate cancellation of How I Met Your Father after only two seasons, we’ve not only had to say goodbye to one of the few streaming comedies that feels like a true sitcom, but now we’ll likely never know who the titular father actually is. The series’ predecessor How I Met Your Mother took eight seasons to finally reveal the identity of the mother, and while it’s hard to believe that HIMYF would have lasted that long anyway in the streaming era, it’s still sad that we won’t have the chance to see Sophie (Hilary Duff) find love the way Ted (Josh Radnor) did.
But just because HIMYM took so long to introduce the mother, doesn’t mean that we haven’t already met the father of Sophie’s child. The pilot episode even says that Sophie met the father the night of Sid (Suraj Sharma) and Hannah’s (Ashley Reyes) engagement. Based on the people we know that Sophie met that night, here are all of the possible fathers that she could have ended up with, beginning with the most likely option.
Sid
It turns out that Sid and Sophie shippers may have been on to something. According to a Reddit thread, Dan Levy (but not that Dan Levy), a writer for season 1 shared the identity of the father during a comedy show after parting ways with the series, saying that “the Indian guy is the father.” Now when this was first shared online, I admit I was skeptical of how true it could be. Sid and Hannah really seemed like the Marshall and Lily of the series and that they would be together for the duration of the show. However, the season 2 finale showed us that maybe they aren’t endgame after all.
Hannah and Sid decided that long-distance wasn’t working for their relationship anymore, so Hannah agreed to move back to New York to be with Sid. However, she shows up early, clearly in a rush to leave something behind in Los Angeles. It turns out that she kissed one of her co-workers and was desperate to cut ties with him before things progressed further. When Sid finds out, they get into a big fight and the series ends with a heartbroken Sid being comforted by his friends. It isn’t clear whether or not he and Hannah have broken up, but their relationship is definitely not what it used to be.
Now as for Jesse and Sid being best friends, let’s not forget that Barney and Robin ended up married for a time in How I Met Your Mother before Ted decided to get back together with her, and their friendship seemed to last. Things happen and people change, that’s the beauty of getting to spend 9 years with characters.
If you’re still not convinced, Sid and Sophie shippers have put together plenty of fancams showing off their latent chemistry with each other.
Jesse
Jesse (Christopher Lowell) seems like the obvious choice, but that’s not always a bad thing! Jesse and Sophie finally professed their feelings for each other after some awkwardness in season 2 and seemed to be in a better place to start their relationship. Both Jesse and Sophie had time to deal with some of their abandonment issues and were able to realize that they didn’t have to be scared about giving into their feelings for each other. It’s unclear how long their relationship would have lasted this time around, but older Sophie (Kim Cattrall) talks about Jesse with a fondness that implies that if their relationship did end at some point, then it at least ended amicably.
Ian
Sophie and Ian (Daniel Augustin) were never able to make things work timing-wise in the first two seasons, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have found their way back to each other in a later season. Ian starts out as Sophie’s first potential love, but his work on an Australian reef project delays their relationship. When Ian finally returns to New York, Sophie has just been through a tough emotional ordeal with Jesse and decides to take some time for herself to figure out what she wants out of life and love. And then just as Sophie finally figures out her stuff, she runs into Ian again just as he’s started dating someone else. However, during a flash forward in the episode “A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Valentine’s Day,” Ian and Sophie are seen on a date together again at an undefined point in the future. Sophie and Ian might be an example of meeting the right person at the wrong time, or maybe they’re just not meant to be.
Drew
Drew (Josh Peck) is the first serious boyfriend that Sophie has in the series. Even though she breaks things off with him to pursue her feelings for Jesse in season 1, he still has feelings for her in the season 2 finale. However, Sophie doesn’t feel the same way. While it’s not entirely impossible for them to have reconnected at some point, Drew definitely feels like one of the least likely options.
Charlie
Charlie is the least likely option to be the father, though he’d be the most interesting choice. Even though he and Sophie’s best friend, Valentina (Francia Raisa), broke up in season 1 due to their differing opinions on having children, they clearly still have feelings for each other. A lot of time would likely have to pass for Sophie to even consider dating Charlie, and even then they don’t seem like they would last long. The season 2 finale also revealed that Charlie and Valentina did end up getting back together eventually, and even had a child of their own together. Sure, it’s possible that Charlie and Sophie could have had a relationship and a kid of their own before he and Val got back together, but it just doesn’t seem likely.
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Brynna Arens (she/her) is a freelance writer who studies movies, TV, and pop culture through an intersectional feminist lens. She'll watch almost anything tbh, but it's…