Knocked for a sixer
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (385113)
Rockingham, Australia
July 8, 2026 2:55am CST
I had a huge surprise the other day. A nephew rang asking about some of our ancestors. He also said he’d discovered that I had another brother who died at birth! At nearly 80, I’d never heard of another brother, and I was inclined to think he’d made a mistake.
When I rang my sister next day, she confirmed it. My parents were married in 1937, my (other) brother and sister (twins) were born in 1938, and I was born in 1946. The little boy would have been born somewhere between them and me, so to speak. My sister said she didn’t know about the child until her five boys were well and truly grown.
My mother apparently said they were poor as church mice and they (the medical staff, I guess) didn’t try to save it. Maybe it was premature or whatever but now we’ll never know. The subject came up when my mother said the boy that died would have been a friend for my brother who had very bad sight and eventually went blind. In those days, a lot of babies didn’t survive for too long.
I find it hard to believe that I’d never heard anything about the child before now, but I guess it’s not something where you go ‘By the way, did you know you had another brother?’
27 people like this
23 responses
@LindaOHio (223765)
• United States
8 Jul
What an amazing discovery. It's sad that he didn't survive.
7 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (17275)
• China
8 Jul
It did surprise you ,especially your sister confirmed that it was true.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (175922)
• United States
8 Jul
I guess some families were just like that back in the day. I'm sure some still are. When my mom was naming off all my brothers and sisters, she always included Louis, who would have been her third child. He was born with his lungs outside his chest cavity. He lived a week before he passed away.
She did skip over the premature girl who was stillborn and never had a name although she is buried beside my dad and mom in the family cemetery with a stone that just says "baby girl Evil" on it with the year of her "birth".
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (175922)
• United States
12 Jul
@JudyEv My SIL told me that sometimes premature babies are buried with somebody else... A brother or sister or the grandparents. Whoever in the family that is already gone. I really don't know, though.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (385113)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul
@DaddyEvil This child seems to be buried with someone else but that someone doesn't have any relationship to our family. Not that I know of anyway.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91611)
• United States
8 Jul
Wow that really must have been a shock to hear that you had a brother that didn't survive.
I was adopted when I was 3 mos old and never knew my birth parents. I could very possibly have multiple siblings I don't know about,
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (91611)
• United States
9 Jul
@JudyEv occasionally I wondered about any blood relatives I might have but I never got to a point where I felt the need to search, At times I figured if someone was looking for me that would be different but no one ever did. Ive had a good life, had loving parents and plenty of extended family.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (385113)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jul
@Marilynda1225 That's so nice to hear. Everyone is different. On the program, a lot had very happy lives but still felt the need to find their blood relatives.
@Ineeddentures (38652)
•
8 Jul
I found out when I was 45 that I had a half brother I never knew about.
I met a guy one day, he looked like me
We got talking, told him I was from Montrose
He said the same
Then mentioned the street my grandfather stayed in
Said the same
Then he described my dad as his dad!!
He is 15 years younger than me
I thought my father had played away from home but never new for sure.
He has his mother's surname, my grandfather's first name as a middle name, and our surname as a first name
2 people like this
@AmbiePam (123117)
• United States
8 Jul
Wow, I would have been very shocked too. I would have thought over the years your sister might have brought it up.
My brother-in-law found out he had a brother given up for adoption when he was in his twenties. His younger brother started talking about the brother they never knew, and he was like, what are you talking about? Turns out before either of them had been born their parents had a son, but couldn’t afford to keep him. Someone had told his younger brother, but never mentioned a word to him!
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (77861)
• Philippines
8 Jul
Or he might have a congenital disease and he didn't last long enough to survive. That's why these days with the advancement of medical technology, it is mandatory for all newborns in my country to undergo newborn screening. Because sometimes parents would just be surprised that after a few hours or a day or two, their baby would die without any explanation.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (77861)
• Philippines
10 Jul
@JudyEv Of course. That's why we say that when a woman is pregnant, half of her body is in the grave. Because there's no way of telling whether she will survive child brith or not. But because of those number of deaths in newborns and in mothers during childbirth, medical studies improved on saving them.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (77861)
• Philippines
10 Jul
@JudyEv It's true though coz back in the old days when a woman gets pregnant there's a lot of risks involved.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (385113)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jul
@toniganzon I haven't heard that saying. That's a bit macabre.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (117714)
• El Paso, Texas
9 Jul
I had no idea @JudyEv
When I was growing up there were only the 4 of us, my folks, sibling and me and mom talked about all kinds of things that I suppose wouldn't be considered civilized at the time. You're so lucky that you didn't move around a lot when you were young.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (99166)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
8 Jul
WOW that is something, I always wished i had a sibling, In the DP Camps in Germany life was hard for my parents and my mom lost a baby and then also lost twins, Finally she arrived in NYC and so did the doctor she knew from Latvia he had delivered my mom in 1911. He told her she had very large polyps pushing the babies out and he operated and finally the doctore who delivered my mom delivered me in 1957. I think that could go down in the Guiness Book of World Records,
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (99166)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
9 Jul
@JudyEv I arrived mom was 45 and dad 51.
1 person likes this
@sallypup (69497)
• Centralia, Washington
8 Jul
Wow. My Mom must have been in her late 80s when I found out that there was another sister besides my oldest sister. Shocking for sure. My Mom carried her having another baby to herself all her life. (I wonder if she confessed to a Catholic priest?}
2 people like this
@AliCanary (4662)
•
9 Jul
Wow, what an astonishing thing to hear for the first time, especially from a nephew rather than a parent or aunt/uncle. I know that my mom had three miscarriages, and I always wondered about my would-be siblings and whether I would be able to meet them after I passed on.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (385113)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jul
@AliCanary Thanks. It's not worrying me. I'm more curious than anything else.
1 person likes this
@AliCanary (4662)
•
9 Jul
@JudyEv That must be frustrating. I hope you find out more when you're ready.
1 person likes this
@porwest (113636)
• United States
8 Jul
It does seem a bit strange not to know. I am sure they had their reasons. But what a discovery, hey? It's a funny thing, and my wife and I think about it from time to time. She had two miscarriages. We often wonder what they would have been like. They'd be close to being adults now.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (170180)
• United States
9 Jul
People talked less freely in the old days. I know for a fact that I had four other siblings. Or that my mom had four other pregnancies. I think two did not get past the second trimester. Two were still births. One would have been older than my oldest sister--technically half sister to me. One would have been a couple of years younger than me. Those were given names, and Mom talked about them.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (385113)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Jul
I can't imagine that Mum deliberately kept the information secret but it's not something you can bring up out of the blue. That must have been pretty tough for your mom. 
So far I haven't found a name for this child. I'm hoping my nephew has more information.
So far I haven't found a name for this child. I'm hoping my nephew has more information.
@snowy22315 (210902)
• United States
8 Jul
That is astounding your mother never told you I wonder why?
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (87805)
• United States
8 Jul
Wow, that is a shock. I’ve read about a lot of people in the “pioneer” days who had lots of kids because half of them wouldn’t live past infancy.
1 person likes this
@Daljinder (23200)
• Bangalore, India
9 Jul
Surprising and saddening at the same time. I would have had another sibling but my parents didnt want any more so they didnt keep the baby. But several years later another sibling still came. 
1 person likes this
@valherma00 (4545)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
13 Jul
i hope you're okay. i mean, this is very unexpected news and i'm sorry. as for doctors back then, such a shame (today are also harsh but slightly better).
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (385113)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Jul
It didn't really worry me. I was just really surprised.
