50 Interesting Parenting Facts That’ll Move Every Parent

Steve Jobs often went to his biological father's Mediterranean restaurant in San Jose and even shook his hand. At the time, his dad didn't know that Jobs was the baby he gave away for adoption, and Jobs didn’t know that he was his father.

27. A woman in Mexico named Ines Ramirez performed a C-section on herself after hours of painful contractions. Fearing that her baby would be stillborn, she drank 2 cups of high-proof alcohol and used a kitchen knife to make the incision. Both the mother and the baby survived.

28. During the filming of Matilda, Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman; who played Matilda's parents; would take Mara Wilson on outings with their family to help the actress cope with her mother's battle, and eventual death, from cancer.

29. In 1913, a Nebraska man took a butcher knife and threatened to kill his wife and newborn son. The mother left him, remarried, and had the boy’s name changed to that of his step-father. The boy, now known as Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.), later went on to become the 38th President of the United States.

30. In 2008, a 9-year-old boy named Nathan Thomson was stabbed in the face as he fought an armed intruder who tried to kill his mother, who was stabbed 8 times. After saving his mother from the slasher, he has been recommended for a bravery award by one of Scotland’s senior law officers for his heroic act.

In 1978, a man with a shotgun named Amos Atkinson held a Melbourne cafe hostage until his mother turned up in her nightgown and hit him over the head with her handbag. He gave himself up soon after.

32. According to a study, strict parents can turn their kids into more effective liars because children who are afraid, to tell the truth, learn more deceptive behaviors to avoid getting in trouble.

33. Jackie Coogan was a child actor in the silent film era who earned millions of dollars, only to find out in his 20s that his parents spent it all on jewelry and cars. He sued and the litigation resulted in the passage of the Coogan Act, which protects child actors.

34. Scandinavians are adamant about letting their children nap outside, even in cold weather. Parents report that babies take longer and deeper naps when they sleep comfortably bundled up outside.

35. When an Israeli day care began fining parents for picking up children late, the number of late pickups went up. Economists believe that parents had previously been motivated to be on time by a sense of guilt, and the guilt went away when it was replaced by a fine that most of them could afford.

61% of Americans dread the holidays due to increased spending. 75% of parents with children under the age of 18 fear disappointing their children during the holidays.

37. The hormone, oxytocin, which triggers feelings of unconditional love and protection, is released when parents and children look into each other’s eyes or embrace. This spike is seen in both human and canine brains. We love our pets in the same way as family members, and dogs return this devoted affection.

38. Identical twin boys were raised as a brother-sister pair (botched circumcision). The truth came when the one being raised as a girl insisted he was a boy. The parents then admitted that he was the subject of an experiment trying to prove gender identity was nurture, not nature. He later committed suicide.

39. In 2015, a woman named Diana Airoldi only got her internet fixed after six full weeks after complaining to the CEO of Comcast's mother.

40. Millennials in the ages of 18-34 are more likely to live with their parents instead of a spouse/partner, the first time this has occurred since record-keeping began in the 1880s.

A 27-year old man from India named Raphael Samuel attempted to sue his parents for giving birth to him without his consent. He claims it is wrong to bring a child into the world because they have to put up with lifelong suffering.

42. Korean parents have begun hiring thugs who protect their children from bullies. These thugs pose as “fake uncles” and intimidate bullies who have been harassing the bullied kid. In some cases, the thugs will visit the bullies’ parents at their workplace and publicly shame them.

43. NHL player Jack Johnson made his mother the power of attorney when he turned pro. His parents proceeded to spend all his money and live a lavish lifestyle. Being oblivious to this, he tried hiring agents and advisors to help manage his money but his mother would always fire them.

44. A girl named Genie Wiley was raised in a dark isolated room with no indication of an outside world for the first 13 years of her life. Her father was incredibly abusive, and when authorities rescued her she couldn't speak at all and only made infantile noises.

45. The “Buckskin Girl” was murdered more than 40 years ago. Unable to be identified, she was named after her coat. In 2017, an unrefrigerated lab vial of her blood was successfully DNA analyzed. Her mother was located still living in the same house, refusing to move or change phone numbers hoping for her return.

An Irish Titanic passenger sent a goodbye message in a bottle during the ship’s sinking. It subsequently ended up washing up near his home, where his handwriting was recognized by his mother.

47. Irène Curie and her husband received a Nobel Prize for their discovery of artificial radioactivity, 30 years after Irène's parents received their Nobel Prize. She died due to overexposure to radiation, also just like her parents. Her children are still alive and are also prominent scientists.

48. When Trevor Noah was growing up in Apartheid, his parents had to always walk on separate sides of the street, and whenever either parent was confronted about him, they had to deny that he was their child.

49. Texas parents are allowed to serve their own underage children alcohol but are liable for prosecution if the child subsequently gets into a fight, falls and hurts him/herself, or is sexually assaulted.

50. When Australia abolished its inheritance tax in 1979, a disproportionate number of parents died in the week immediately after the abolition went into effect, suggesting that many of their heirs were doing everything to keep them alive just long enough for the inheritance tax to expire.