| abstract | - There used to be such a stigma on young women becoming pregnant out of wedlock, that the young woman in question was often smuggled away from the family to have the bastard child. It was considered shameful, so to avoid gossip and embarrassment, the family would make excuses, such as: 1.
* She's studying abroad. 2.
* She's joined a convent. 3.
* She's visiting her aunt/sister/old family friend. 4.
* Rheumatic fever or some other illness that requires a long convalescence. Tropes resulting after the baby is born: 1.
* The most common one involves the baby being shipped off to an orphanage, which results in Missing Mom for the kid, if the kid ends up mentioned again. 2.
* Family Relationship Switcheroo: The less common ones involve the baby's grandmother taking on the role of mother and raising the child's true mother and the new child as siblings. Depending on your interpretation, this may result in Mind Screw for the child should he find out later in life. 3.
* The mother stays away, with distant relatives often, and passes herself off as a widow. 4.
* The most grisly ones involve killing the newborn, either directly or by abandoning it somewhere where it is unlikely to be found. Largely a Discredited Trope in works set in the modern world, it still appears from time to time thanks to its former Truth in Television status, particularly in period pieces and medieval-style fantasy settings. Examples of Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism include:
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