Isabeau Brimeau, an only child, speaks to others without siblings about their experiences Humans are curious creatures. We’re forever trying to understand what made us into the person we are today. How much can we attribute to our family and our upbringing? Are your personality traits unique, or are they behaviours learnt? If you have siblings you might discuss this together, attribute certain characteristics and idiosyncrasies to your parents or home environment.
Without siblings to compare notes with, these are things I’ve mulled over on my own. Until recently, when I decided to see if others would share with me what life was like growing up without siblings, how it’s shaped them as people and if there are commonalities among us. This is not psychological research and by no means intended to discourage or deter people from having only one child.
There are so many reasons – more than I could ever acknowledge in this article – that people have smaller families. This piece is simply made up of real recounts from those growing up without siblings . Some names have been changed.
“It’s the thing that I wonder...
What would someone who had also had my upbringing have been like? Am I the way I am because of how I was brought up? Was it nature versus nurture? It would have been interesting to see.” – Kat, 29..
