Whenever a family is expecting a new baby, the gender reveal is always a big deal.
While in most cases the probability that the baby will be a girl or a boy is an even 50/50 split, those odds change somewhat when you consider the entire family history. In other words, some family lines just seem predisposed to have more of one kind of baby than the other. For the Settle family in Bluffton, South Carolina, the odds were stacked against them.
In the past 137 years, the family had only given birth to boys.
When Will and Kelen Settle found out they were pregnant, they weren’t expecting much else.
Although they were excited for the new baby, the assumption was that it would follow the pattern set by all the others. Little did they know that they were in for a surprise. The family found out when the parents-to-be threw the standard gender reveal party. As they opened the box, out flew a bundle of pink and purple balloons.
After so many years, the family was finally going to have a girl!
Needless to say, all of Will’s family was ecstatic at the news.
According to ABC News, Will said that the entire thing was a little surreal:
“I was like, ‘What’s going on? This just can’t be possible.’ I was absolutely shocked. We had the whole family there. My mother just went nuts. My mom always wanted a daughter. She was absolutely ecstatic. She could not believe it.”
The pair decided to name their daughter Carter, though they say that the gender-neutral name was not necessarily by design—they just liked the name!
Although everyone knew the newest addition to the Settle family would be a girl, that wasn’t the end of the surprises.
The next reveal would come when Will was driving home one day. On the side of the road, he saw a giant billboard painted all in pink that read: “Welcome to the world Carter Louise Settle.”
As it turns out, Will’s coworkers had been so excited by the news that they decided to give the family another surprise.
This story is amazing not only because Carter broke a long-standing pattern but also because the Settle’s community reacted so warmly to the news as well. Although new babies are always heartwarming and exciting, the arrival of Carter Louis Settle seemed especially worth celebrating for this small town!
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