Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think it odd to tell children where they were conceived?

90 replies

ramorna · 09/06/2026 23:14

To think it’s odd to tell your kids where they were conceived?

I’ve always had a love of Italy and even went on to study Italian at university. My mum recently and rather casually dropped into conversation that I was conceived in Rome!

My parents had been in Rome for two weeks that summer.

OP posts:
OhThePotential · 10/06/2026 23:10

My parents were 40-something widows who had a one off ‘encounter’ at work (in 1970) after closing as they both had kids at home.

They married two months before I was born and stayed together happily until Dad’s death when I was 18.

It was one of my half sisters who filled in the blanks for me when I asked as a teenager, Mum would never talk about anything ‘personal’.

pollymere · 10/06/2026 23:04

Weirder is naming your child after where they were conceived...

(We used to joke my husband was "Made in Hong Kong". His Mum retorted by telling him where he was conceived. Now THAT felt weird.)

danglethedingle · 10/06/2026 22:20

I'd quite like to have an exotic tale to tell about either my or my children's conception. I was conceived in the village my mum and and my father's family had both lived for at least 5 generations. My kids were made in the marital bed, in a neighbouring village. We don't get around much.

Denim4ever · 10/06/2026 22:07

weren't Spice Girl children Brooklyn and Phoenix so named for this very reason?

cupfinalchaos · 10/06/2026 22:01

Im in my late 50’s and I really wouldn’t want to know from my parents where I was conceived.

Conniebygaslight · 10/06/2026 21:58

fivetriangulartrees · 09/06/2026 23:30

I dunno, I think "Rome" or "Manchester" is fine, but "up against the wardrobe in the back bedroom" maybe not.

🤣🤣

CastlesinSpain · 10/06/2026 20:32

My parents were long deceased and I was middle aged before I put two and two together and realised that my parents holiday photos of the town I was named after were taken nine months before my birth😄.

Slightyamusedandsilly · 10/06/2026 20:32

Meh, mentioned where DC was made to them last week. It's a place I love and DC has yet to visit but is excited about going. I really don't see the big deal.

MachineBee · 10/06/2026 20:29

After my DGM’s funeral, my DGF told my DM (in front of me and my DSis - we were adults by then) that our DM was conceived in Rhyl after he ‘doctored a Johnny’ as he wanted a child and our DGM ’wasn’t keen’. This was not information DM wanted to know, and definitely not on the day she’d cremated her mum!

Crunchymum · 10/06/2026 20:16

ourSusie · 10/06/2026 10:43

Actually, he wasn’t! He was conceived in Copenhagen.
They were in NYC when they discovered Victoria was pregnant.
Cruz was conceived/born in Madrid
Romeo was conceived on a balcony
Harper was conceived in a bookstore

Show quote history

How do you know this?

Was the balcony and bookstore not in an actual city / place then?

TomatoesintheGreenhouse · 10/06/2026 20:13

You're an adult! It's not exactly X rated is it? It's just amusing anecdotes for close friends and family.

I know the story of my sister's conception and it's pretty exotic. I envy her that, and the sense of connection she feels with that place. I also know that conceiving DH "took a long while and a lot of trying". I was just conceived in a boring bed at home, sadly, as were two of my three kids. My eldest was conceived in a test tube.

Maray1967 · 10/06/2026 20:07

allhailtheeyeballsinthesky · 10/06/2026 06:58

Im an unexpected honeymoon baby, born 9 months later, no doubt about my conception, mind you I'm not called Grasmere thankfully

Similar for me. Parents were away for two weeks around their second wedding anniversary. My DM’s family were almost entirely Scots so although I was born in England I like knowing that I was ‘made’ in Scotland.
And also relieved they didn’t call me Ullapool.

followtheswallow · 10/06/2026 20:04

OhBotherSaidPoo · 10/06/2026 10:18

I'm amazed people know. Are they having that little sex they can recall exactly when and where?

Well, it’s only a few days per month for most women, so if you’ve only had sex once in a particular week (normal?) then you know. I do for mine as ds was just before the first lockdown and for dd we were away for a wedding most of the week and I didn’t want to sleep with DH with toddler ds in the room!

followtheswallow · 10/06/2026 20:01

AnonymityAnonymity · 10/06/2026 05:49

Yes i agree OP. I think it's really weird. And I think it's even weirder to name the child after the place they were conceived.

I think it makes it sound as though the only time the parents had sex was the time a baby was the result. And that the rest of the time they never had sex.

In the case of one’s own parents, this is of course the case Wink

Theseagullsarenowclouds · 10/06/2026 19:59

I thought Brooklyn was named after where Posh was when she found out she was pregnant.

JustGiveMeReason · 10/06/2026 19:56

From your title, (assuming you were talking about telling dc when they were actually children) I was going to say YANBU, but from the information in your post, as an adult, to know you would have been conceived in Rome, isn't odd. It is a passing comment between two adults.

JustGiveMeReason · 10/06/2026 19:55

LeedsLoiner · 10/06/2026 08:32

Presumably Romeo was in the back of an Alfa 164…😄

Show quote history
Grin

Under rated post

Tillow4ever · 10/06/2026 19:07

This is why I feel so sorry for my friends Butlins, Haven and Blackpool.

ObelixtheGaul · 10/06/2026 19:01

thebabessavedme · 10/06/2026 09:56

😂I was conceived in a cupboard under the stairs in a house in Golders Green during a party, the swinging sixties (not that M&D did swinging😂, just quickie among the cleaning things)

I do hope they didn't call you Jiff. Although Ajax wouldn't be so bad...

Judecb · 10/06/2026 18:24

NO child wants to hear this!!! 😂

DramaAlpaca · 10/06/2026 10:58

I was conceived in Blackpool, on or around my dad's birthday. I was told this as a teen, I can still remember the cringe Grin

BleedinglyObvious · 10/06/2026 10:53

Depends where it was. Italy would be fine, back seat of his Vauxhall Astra, not ok.

PollyBell · 10/06/2026 10:51

I would say there is a difference in saying in Paris or in the back of a lorry on the M62 or on the washing machine

ourSusie · 10/06/2026 10:43

Sahara123 · 10/06/2026 10:14

No wonder the poor guy has issues, it can’t help that the whole world knows that, surely !

Show quote history

Actually, he wasn’t! He was conceived in Copenhagen.
They were in NYC when they discovered Victoria was pregnant.
Cruz was conceived/born in Madrid
Romeo was conceived on a balcony
Harper was conceived in a bookstore

WillyCroakit · 10/06/2026 10:43

My eldest was IVF Liverpool's women's. Took him to see Hot Wheels Monster Trucks at the Arena on his birthday and included a fly-past of the hospital to show him where he was made. Was a bit emotional.

Number two was conceived on the living room floor, not really the same tale. Maybe it depends on the story. Rome is quite romantic

I also like the Korean tradition that your Korean birthday is the day you were conceived, because that is when new life begins. Love working it out for people so they find out they were conceived when UTD won the FA cup, or they were a Xmas quickie. Surprising how many grown adults with their own children get the ick