Is a child an only child if the siblings are dead?

Question

I have 2 siblings, and I wonder if I'm an only child when both of them are dead.

Answer 1

Yes, now you are. Just as you'd be an orphan when your parents pass, regardless of their age. Just like your parents were orphans when THEIR parents (your grandparents) passed.

Answer 2

No, you won't.........

Answer 3

The phrase usually means someone who grew up in an environment without siblings.  So if the siblings died in infancy, the phrase "only child" seems appropriate even if it's not TECHNICALLY accurate.  However, taking an extreme case, you wouldn't say that a 15-year-old whose siblings have suddenly died is an "only child."  You might call him or her a "sole surviving child."

Answer 4

The term "only child" means the parents had only one child. It presupposes the only child of both parents and was a lot more easily understood and determined when the divorce rate was under 3%. With the divorce rate over 50%, numerous remarriages, and perhaps even more couples "shacking up together" for the short term it becomes hard if not impossible to define "only child" in the original context. However you are not an only child if the other 2 siblings have died, you are the only living child but not the only child.

Answer 5

Depends who you ask. You are not the ‘only child’ your parents have had. But you are certainly the only remaining child.

Answer 6

no

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