Karen and Tracy clash over baby

Arch enemies Karen McDonald and Tracy Barlow are set to clash again, this time over Karen's attempts to get pregnant.

11:18 16 September 2004

Arch enemies Karen McDonald and Tracy Barlow are set to clash again, this time over Karen's attempts to get pregnant.

The newly reformed Karen, played by Suranne Jones, has decided that after ditching her drinking and smoking she should have children with her husband Steve.

But things do not go as fast as she would like and she orders him to stop drinking to boost his sperm count.

Things go from bad to worse when Tracy, played by Kate Ford, finds out about Karen's pregnancy problems.

"It only took him once with me," Tracy yells at Karen - referring to the one-night-stand she had with Steve that left her pregnant.

Karen takes this as a sign that God is punishing her for "being a bad person" and decides to step up efforts with Steve.

"She's ordering him to perform on every possible occasion and he'll start to see himself as Karen's personal baby machine," a soap insider told the Daily Star.

"The thought of having nookie turns from a delight to a turn-off," the soap source adds.