Serena Joy Waterford is pregnant in The Handmaid's Tale, so could she be forced to return to Gilead and serve as a Handmaid? After years as one of the most powerful Wives in the Republic of Gilead, working alongside her husband, Fred, to secure its rule and create and implement many of its laws, Serena Joy finds herself in a perilous position. Facing trial in Canada, she's been left with nowhere to turn except back to the husband she had been setting up to take the fall.
The Waterfords are on a united front once again as they prepare for the International Criminal Court, where June Osborne's testimony will be key among the evidence against them for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. But quite what will happen during the trial - and after it - remains to be seen. There's still a lot of milage in Fred and Serena's story in The Handmaid's Tale, and so it's unlikely things will be so simple as them being imprisoned for their wrongdoings.
Still, even with that there are a few possible options. It could still be that the Waterfords are able to strike a deal with Canada and the United States in return for freedom (or some semblance of it, anyway), or that they're returned to Gilead and could re-assume some of their old power. But one of the more pertinent theories surrounding Serena Joy is that she will have to return to Gilead and serve as a Handmaid, which stems from the combination of her surprise pregnancy, the weakened position she and Fred find themselves in, and the clear need Gilead has for more Handmaids.
If Serena does find herself in a position whereby she has to return to Gilead, then her pregnancy would have to be factored in in some way. Typically, Wives are thought to be unable to have children, which is part of the reason their households are provided with a Handmaid (though it may also be the husband's infertility that causes the issue). That was believed to be the case with Serena, but obviously the truth is something different. While at the very least she'd be expected to raise her own child in Gilead, the fact that she is someone capable of reproducing amid the ongoing fertility and population crisis could lead to Gilead forcing her into a different role.
Serena Joy's pregnancy alone likely wouldn't be enough to force her into servitude, but her poor standing within Gilead could be. She had already tested the powers-that-be by reading in season 2, for which she lost a finger. Serena then further damaged her reputation by essentially selling out Fred, albeit for the sake of Nichole and their relationship. Gilead may value a mother's love for a child to a degree, but with multiple indiscretions and no sign of Gilead helping the Waterfords in the trial (or at least, not yet), then it doesn't suggest she is looked upon favorably. With all that, then the fact she could be seen as deserving of punishment and that she is capable of bearing children could see them make her a Handmaid, be it the traditional kind or in some kind of slightly new, Handmaid/Wife hybrid role that reflects her past status and what she's done for Gilead.
Serena Joy becoming a Handmaid would be a twist of fate, given how much she has done to subjugate other women to such fates. Given June's angry speech to her earlier in The Handmaid's Tale season 4, it may even be one that viewers are supposed to believe she is deserving of; a punishment that fits her multiple crimes, despite how horrific a fate it would be for anyone to suffer. There's little sign that the Waterfords could be truly redeemed - especially not with the way June sees them, given she is the protagonist - which means the theory is certainly plausible. At the same time, though, there's plenty of story left in The Handmaid's Tale, and it could be setting up the Waterfords for a bigger role in that, which Serena being a Handmaid may prevent happening.
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