Oops, Baby! is a book I created in the fall of 2011 for my senior thesis at Parsons. It’s a non-fiction illustrated account of seven people, all of whom were the result of an accidental pregnancy. 

The idea behind this book started from an interest in how we perceive mistakes. The term “unplanned pregnancy” carries a sort of Hester Prynne-esque stigma. To talk about it is almost taboo. However, approximately one in every two pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned (according to 2011 data). 

My brother and I were both “oops” babies, but until that fall, I hadn't really thought of the probability of many people having that in common with us. I ended up posting a simple request for participants on Facebook, and within an hour, I’d heard from five oops babies, one sister of an oops baby, and even the parent of an oops baby, all of whom were willing to participate in my project.

In the end, I interviewed seven young adults, along with some of their parents, on how they came to believe themselves to be an "oops" baby, and I illustrated their stories.

Then I designed and laid out the book, and got it printed through blurb.com. The final result was a beautiful hardcover book of 76 full-color pages filled with humorous, poignant, and heartwarming true stories.

I’m thrilled that even 10 years later, everyone who has experienced the book in their hands has been unanimous in their interest and support. I am constantly asked for copies, in which case I can only direct folks to the Blurb site (my book has remained a “staff pick” since 2011!) where they can order a copy for around $75 USD.