The propagation of a laser beam through a two‐photon absorber (TPA) is discussed for the incident laser working at, above, and below its threshold of oscillation. It is shown that the fluctuation behavior characterized by the normalized moments ⟨I⟩/⟨I0⟩, ⟨I2⟩/⟨I0⟩2, and ⟨I2⟩/⟨I⟩2and the variances ⟨(&Dgr;I)2⟩ and ⟨(&Dgr;n)2⟩ change significantly throughout the absorption process. We also calculate the time‐dependent factorial moments of the laser field near threshold as it propagates inside the media and discuss this aspect of fluctuation behavior.