Reproduction Of Symbiotes

Symbiotes have no gender, and as such have the ability to asexually spawn another symbiote. They have been portrayed as only being able to give natural birth to one offspring per generation, and while the symbiotes appear to have a finite number of 'seeds' that grow within them, they lay dormant after the first birth. The Venom symbiote spawned the Carnage symbiote itself, but the remaining five 'seeds' that it contained weren't able to be born naturally, and instead were harvested by the Life Foundation to create further offspring.

However, after the Venom symbiote merged with a fully actualized genetically altered clone of itself, it re-appeared claiming a new child was growing within it. Apparently the clone's purpose was to merge with the original, creating a symbiote army. The Venom suit then tried to bond with Peter Parker during a story-arc called "the Hunger", as it did not wish to re-bond with Eddie Brock due to his cancer. When Spider-Man tricks the symbiote into re-bonding with Brock, Venom states that Spider-Man "doomed" the child, though whether this means that the child is dead is unknown.

In the Civil War: Aftermath comic interviews, and various other sources, it is mentioned that an upcoming Mighty Avengers story-arc tentatively titled "Venom Bomb" will see a "Venom-Virus" hit New York City. This event will apparently involve an army of symbiotes. It as yet unknown if this will be a continuation of the plot line mentioned above, or something new entirely.

The best-known symbiotes have been depicted as hating their newborn spawn, possibly out of fear of competition. Venom, for example, tries to kill and destroy its offspring, Carnage. However, Carnage was a psychotic murderer with differing values from its parent, which may explain Venom's contempt for him. Carnage himself tries to kill his 'son' Toxin by leaving it for dead without a human host (originally explained by carnage saying that he was disgusted about the fact that he could be "pregnant"). Eventually, both Venom and Carnage try to kill Toxin because of his vast strength, making him easily as strong as his father and grandfather combined, just as Carnage was stronger than Spider-Man and Venom combined. It is unclear whether this hostility is the product of a genetic predisposition among symbiotes, or strictly circumstantial, though Venom is portrayed as being initially protective of his "grandson" Toxin.