I know 2 brothers, born a year apart, who have several siblings much older than they. Their mother and my mother are friends, and when I was older my mom confided in me that they were both prety much "mistakes," although they were much beloved mistakes. What happened was, "the pill" became available, so their parents switched to that form of birth control. Their father was on the road a lot, and their mother mistakenly thought that she only had to take the pill when her husband was in town. So she got pregnant not once, but twice, based on this misconception (what punishing humor!) about how the drug was to be used. And presumably her physician explained it to her. If not then he should have to help change the diapers.
Another birth control pill story: I have a good friend who is very bright, now a medical student but at the time a Ph D candidate in biochemistry. She was not sexually active, but she was prescribed birth control pills for severe mentrual cramps. The prescription came in packages with numbered pills in a cycle to help one keep track of the correct dose. She received her package on the 5th day of the calender month, so the first night she thought it was a good idea to take 5 pills at once so that her pill package corresponded to the calender. Well she got a whopping dose of estrogen and was sick as stink the next morning.
