# Were you an accident? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316 "2010-09-01T21:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/21 "2010-09-01T23:21:49Z")
I’m an accident waiting to happen. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/22 "2010-09-01T23:22:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > So: are you planned or accidental? My dad said planned, my mom said accidental, so …accidental. My dad was trying not to hurt my feelings, but it never really mattered much to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/23 "2010-09-01T23:24:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > > [@Chefguy](#): > > > > The dynamics of birth order is well known, and I’ve known psych profs who can tell you the personality characteristics of every child in your family, just by the order of birth. Youngest children with a large gap between them and the next oldest typically grow up exhibiting the same characteristics as an only child. > > > > So: are you planned or accidental? > > Mom always said I was planned. There was a ten year gap and a World War between me and my brother. I was the baby of the family for nine years, then suddenly I was the only child. Made for some wierdness. Exactly my scenario. Brother: 1936; sister: 1937; me: 1947. My father worked in remote locations in Alaska and Canada, so it probably happened on one of his infrequent visits home. At about age 10, my sister got married. I grew being humored and spoiled to some degree, first as the youngest, then as an only. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/24 "2010-09-01T23:35:59Z")
Definitely on purpose. My mom could apparently conceive at will. My parents firmly believed that two children were sufficient, and that they should be exactly 4 years apart so that they would not have two in college at the same time. In the 1940s another birth control method that was available was the diaphragm and they apparently used that precisely and correctly until they wanted me. I’ve often thought it was an interesting fact that I was born almost exactly 9 months after the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. I’m sure my parents also decided that since the war was about to be over it was a good time for conception. Oh, and that college thing turned out to be an unnecessary consideration. My older sister dropped out of college in her junior year. I got married after my freshman year and paid for the rest of my education by myself. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/25 "2010-09-01T23:38:30Z")
Nope. My mom had been told that having children would be a health risk to her, but when her sister gave birth to my cousin, my mom went to London to be with her, and she was so infatuated with the idea of having her own children that she got back to the US and got back together with my dad (they were separated at the time). My mom’s two pregnancies ended up being pretty difficult for her, but my sister and I were born reasonably healthy (I was born with some minor health issues) and my parents are still married, 33 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/26 "2010-09-01T23:44:06Z")
Very much so. My mom was 17, my dad was 18. The second time she ever had sex, I was the result. ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/27 "2010-09-01T23:49:26Z")
Yes and no. I was adopted on purpose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/28 "2010-09-01T23:53:58Z")
One year, nine months and one day after my older sister. Pretty much nails things down, eh? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/29 "2010-09-01T23:55:34Z")
Accidental. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/30 "2010-09-01T23:55:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > At about age 10, my sister got married. Isn’t 10 a bit young to get married? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/31 "2010-09-02T00:03:59Z")
“You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here, and whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back.” ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/32 "2010-09-02T00:12:28Z")
I’m sure I am, but my mother would never admit it! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/33 "2010-09-02T00:19:25Z")
I’m an oops. My parents were married, but waiting until they could afford to have a child. That could have taken awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/34 "2010-09-02T00:23:02Z")
My mom had me when she was barely 16, so yes. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/35 "2010-09-02T00:35:05Z")
Definitely an accident; my parents were 41, mom had already had four children and a couple of miscarriages, and was quite convinced that she was now past all that. In addition, she was having health problems and was actually in the hospital preparing for a hysterectomy when the doctor put his foot down: 41 is still child-bearing age, and he wasn’t going to perform a hysterectomy on a woman of child-bearing age until she was cleared by a pregnancy test. The frog, as they say, died. I am described by Mom as her “Oh my God” child. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/36 "2010-09-02T00:49:57Z")
My mother had 7 kids in 6 years. one set of twins died, the other lived. Mom started having kids right after she married and expected to continue on this same pregnancy-every-thirteen-months plan, but she found out she had uterine cancer when I was born, so I was the last child. I have 42 first cousins. Yes, we’re Catholic. So I was planned in the way of “whatever comes our way is fine by us”. StG ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/37 "2010-09-02T00:50:02Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > Yup, me and my 4 siblings were all accidents Your name is a bit of a giveaway. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/38 "2010-09-02T00:50:15Z")
Since Mom had been told she would never be able to have kids, I consider older bro a surprise and me (born 8 years later) more of a last gasp. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/39 "2010-09-02T01:38:29Z")
Yup, I was an [post=7487384]accident[/post]! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316/40 "2010-09-02T01:51:32Z")
Accident. My mom was dating a guy and declined to marry him, then found out she was pregnant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-an-accident/552316.md?page=3)