British Family Celebrates First Baby Girl in over 100 Years
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iStock/Thinkstock(LONDON) — After four generations of having only male babies, a British family is celebrating the birth of a girl.
Danielle and her partner Jeremy Silverton broke the more-than-century-old family streak on Sept. 9, when Poppy was born at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
The last female born into the family was Poppy’s great aunt, Jessie, in 1913. Since then, the Silvertons have had 16 boys, including the couple’s eldest two — Harry, 6, and Oscar, 4.
“I was totally amazed. It was always boys, boys, boys. We just assumed it was going to be that way,” Poppy’s grandfather, David Silverton, who is currently writing a book on the Silverton family, told ABC News.
Jeremy Silverton is a farmer and a lecturer on agriculture and said he was similarly astounded by the news that he would be having a daughter.
When asked about why he thought the family’s fortunes had changed, the father was clear that he thought it was a matter of chance.
“We didn’t do any research or do anything different to get a girl. I don’t think there is an explanation really. It’s like tossing a coin. It just happened,” he said.
Studies show that the sex of an infant comes down to chance, except in rare cases of sex chromosome disorders.
When the mother, Danielle, had a scan to check the baby’s development, the couple were informed about its sex.
“We thought that maybe they had made a mistake, but it didn’t stop us from painting the nursery pink,” Jeremy Silverton said.
“The women in our family were really pleased,” he added. “I think they’re pleased to finally go shopping for girls’ clothes.”
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