Nothing adds relatable chaos and comedic honesty to a K-drama storyline like throwing parenthood into the mix, especially when it’s about things like a surprise pregnancy, a single adult trying to avoid everyday disasters while raising a baby, or two people forced into co-parenting with absolutely zero prep time.
They might be K-dramas, but they’re all stories grounded in something real and relatable to anyone trying to get through the day. Including two currently airing K-dramas that you should definitely catch up on, here are five that have peak parenting arcs!
1. “Our Universe”
Woo Hyun Jin (Roh Jeong Eui) and Sun Tae Hyung (Bae In Hyuk) didn’t plan on being parents anytime soon, but in “Our Universe,” a toddler becomes their shared responsibility.
Hyun Jin and Tae Hyung barely know each other when infant Sun Woo Joo (Park Yu Ho) is dropped into their laps. Their only connection is as estranged siblings-in-law who parted ways years ago after a brief encounter that didn’t go particularly well.
When they move in together as a sort of temporary co-parenting agreement, the only thing they can agree on, at least at the start, is that childcare isn’t a walk in the park, especially when you’re totally unprepared.
What starts as an uneasy partnership turns into a crash course in childcare and making it work. From diapers to baby food and perfecting ordinary routines, they’ve got a lot to learn.
Why it’s worth the watch:
Neither of the leads is ready for any of this, and that’s exactly why their dynamic works, even though they’re bickering half the time. “Our Universe” is a funny and emotional journey with one major goal: keep a tiny human happy and healthy while also trying to figure out your own life. The adorable and mischievous Woo Joo makes this one of the cutest K-dramas out there right now.
Start watching “Our Universe” now:
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2. “Positively Yours”
After a one‑night stand turns into a surprise pregnancy, two anti-marriage strangers find themselves having to deal with the fact that they’re expecting a child together and that avoiding commitment might not be possible anymore.
Choi Jin Hyuk plays Kang Du Jun, a no-nonsense chaebol who is against marriage because of a tragedy in his past. All work and no romance, Jang Hui Won (Oh Yeon Seo) devotes herself to her job. Like Jin Hyuk, she isn’t keen on marriage due to her own reasons.
Du Jun and Hui Won cross paths three times in a row (in K-drama land, that’s fate), and each run‑in is more chaotic than the last. Their third meeting ends with way too many drinks, a riverside heart-to-heart, and Hui Won waking up in Du Jun’s bed. Whoops!
A few weeks later, the nausea hits. A pharmacy run confirms Hui Won’s fears: she’s pregnant. In a turn of events, two people who have spent their adult lives avoiding the idea of marriage are rethinking their future.
Why it’s worth the watch:
The irony of two people who don’t even want marriage not only having great chemistry but also winding up with a baby on the way is a perfectly complicated situation that screams K-drama logic. The show certainly has its serious moments, but it also has an unserious comedic side that sneaks up on you. Add in a lovably chaotic female lead who wants romance but has no idea how to go about it, and you’ve got a perfect setup.
Start watching “Positively Yours” now:
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3. “Oh My Baby”
In “Oh My Baby,” Jang Ha Ri (Jang Nara) is almost 40, single, and done with her completely uneventful and nonexistent love life. Everyone else is already married with kids, and she’s had enough.
Her clock for having a baby is ticking, so she decides to put getting married on the back burner because it is taking too long to find Mr. Right. Instead, she finds a way to have a baby as soon as possible.
Ha Ri has spent her days pouring everything into her job at “The Baby,” a childcare magazine where she’s basically the expert on motherhood and childcare, yet she’s constantly questioned about her credibility because she isn’t a mother herself. What people don’t know is that she has dreamed of being a mother since she was young, but it isn’t something you can just snap your fingers and make happen.
To top it off, a medical checkup drops another blow: her chances of getting pregnant are already low and shrinking fast.
Ha Ri is about to resort to freezing her eggs, even though the chances of that leading to pregnancy are also slim. But, at the same time, three potential suitors pop into her life and create another possibility.
Han Lee Sang (Go Joon) is the cool and collected photographer who shares a spark with Ha Ri, but is also confident he doesn’t want marriage. Then there’s Yoon Jae Young (Park Byung Eun), a single father and old friend, and Choi Kang Eu Tteum (Jung Gun Joo), a bubbly and caring junior employee at her company.
None of them quite fit the picture of Mr. Right that Ha Ri imagined, but now might be her last chance at motherhood, so she’s willing to make anything work.
Why it’s worth the watch:
Jang Nara, once again, pulls off a flawless and believable performance as a struggling woman trying to find love and start a family when everything seems to be working against her. The show balances the stress of her situation with a lot of low‑key humor; the serious, emotional moments hit hard, but the silly moments balance it out.
Watch Jang Nara as a mother in “Good Partner” too:
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4. “Woori the Virgin”
Inspired by the 2014 TV series “Jane the Virgin,” “Woori the Virgin” takes the same premise and gives it a K-drama glow-up.
If you aren’t familiar with the original story, it’s about a woman who miraculously gets pregnant despite being a virgin (hence the miraculous part), and the kicker is that the father isn’t the man she’s in a relationship with.
Despite the occasional judgment from her friends, Oh Woori (Im Soo Hyang) is a virgin by choice. She grew up with a mom who had her way too young, so she took an oath of chastity as a teen and promised to wait until she is in a married relationship before moving to the next level with her partner. Lee Kang Jae (Shin Dong Wook) is her devoted boyfriend of two years and has no problem waiting for Woori.
Woori’s plans change, however, when she goes to an OB/GYN appointment that wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. But something absurdly silly happens: her doctor, barely holding back tears due to her own relationship problems, accidentally artificially inseminates Woori.
Later, she winds up in the hospital due to unusual fatigue and finds out she’s expecting. Besides the shock of being both pregnant and a virgin, Woori soon finds out the sperm is Raphael’s (Sung Hoon), a CEO she’s awkwardly run into a couple of times due to a work connection.
A rich playboy on the surface, Raphael has only recently returned to work (and resumed his usual partying ways) after recovering from stomach cancer. While going through chemotherapy, he froze his sperm and is determined to find the right woman because it could be his last chance of having a child.
Unfortunately, now Raphael doesn’t have much of a choice. Woori is pregnant, and it happens to be his last sperm.
Why it’s worth the watch:
It’s a rom-com that really knows how to be playful and unserious, from Woori’s boyfriend panicking and going to confession every time he has “impure thoughts,” to having all main characters coincidentally ending up in the same place at the same time, of course, while the press is watching. The show keeps the charm of the original but filters it through that classic K-drama feel.
Start watching “Woori the Virgin” now:
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5. “My Little Baby”
“My Little Baby” is about a detective who goes from being a relentless crime fighter to an unprepared stand-in father. When he loses his sister, he becomes the guardian of his infant niece, Eun Ae.
On the murder squad, Detective Cha Jung Han (Oh Ji Ho) is the kind of cop who can take down a suspect with charisma and flair, but the moment he has to care for a needy baby, he’s completely out of his depth.
Now, he’s doing long night drives to calm Eun Ae down, getting bloodshot eyes from sleepless nights, and buckling the seatbelt of a car seat instead of tossing perps in the back of a police car.
During this strange and new time, he’s at least not alone. His close friend lends help, though he’s only slightly less clueless about taking care of a newborn compared to Jung Han. He’s also a master at getting out of babysitting, but he comes up with a good idea or two along the way.
Desperate for a good night of sleep, Jung Han eventually joins hands with the mom squad of his apartment complex. The mothers of his apartment might thrive on neighborhood gossip, but they also know more than anyone else about childcare.
Why it’s worth the watch:
This 2016 series has that cozy, old-school charm of the 2010s K‑drama era and its mostly pure goofiness. The contrast between being a cool cop and a worn‑out, sleep‑deprived dad is genuinely hilarious, and the show does well to show the real messiness of learning to be a parent on the fly.
Watch Ji Ho as another funny father in “Hotel Del Luna” too:
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Asya’s a BL-biased Soompi writer with a love of K-pop and all types of Asian dramas. Some of her favorite shows are “Psychopath Diary,” “Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss!,” “Light On Me,” “The Untamed,” “Go Go Squid!,” and “Cherry Magic!”
Currently watching: “Our Universe,” “Positively Yours,” “Undercover Miss Hong,” “Countdown to Yes,” “IDOL I,” “Dare You to Death,” “Peach Lover,” and “Duang with You.”
Looking forward to: “Magic Lover,” “Mr. Fanboy,” “The Love Matter,” and “Be My Player Two.”