I'm just a prom night dumpster baby,
I got no mom or dad.
Prom night dumpster baby -
My story isn't long, but boy, it's awfully sad...
— The Prom Night Dumpster Baby, Family Guy
Often when a fictional work features a pregnant teenage girl, she'll go into labor at the prom. Most likely because she got knocked up around homecoming.
More subdued examples of when a child is conceived during prom night may occur as part of that child's backstory and set the tone for what kind of parental presence the child had growing up.
May overlap with My Secret Pregnancy or a Surprise Pregnancy.
Examples:
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Comic Books
- MAD once featured a series of fake magazine covers, including one called "Prom Mom" with articles like "Drinking the spiked punch: What the hell, it's not like anyone expects good judgment from you at this point!"
- The parents of Wrighty from Scream Queen abandoned him in a shopping mall dumpster on prom night, though he was saved from dying when he was found by the building's custodian, who then raised him in secret.
Film — Live-Action
- Cabin Fever 2 has a gruesome version where one of the promgoers has an extremely messy childbirth in one of the public restrooms, after contracting a flesh-eating virus.
- The '80s film, For Keeps, featured Molly Ringwald going into labor at the prom.
- In Saved!, an extremely chaotic prom is capped off by Mary going into labor.
Literature
- The novel Someone Like You. Half the school comes and waits in the waiting room. Defied when Scarlett says that she refuses to give birth at prom.
Live-Action TV
- Beverly Hills, 90210: In the new series, Adrianna does go into labor at the prom, but manages to give birth to her daughter at a nearby hospital.
- The Cold Case episode "Family". The mom gave birth in the restroom during the graduation party and the baby's father was killed by the math teacher when he refused to give their baby up to him for adoption.
- On the Degrassi Junior High episode "Pass Tense", Spike goes into labor during the end-of-year dance which is ironic that she was even allowed to attend since the school board had her removed from her classes as parents thought she was a bad example to the other students.
- Samantha Taggart from ER explains this to be the case with her son Alex, who she had when she was only fourteen. Because of the nature of his birth, Sam had to raise Alex herself.
- The Law & Order episode "Denial" played with this trope. The parents were college students, and the baby was actually born in a hotel, but shortly afterward, the parents attended a college dance as if nothing had happened. The story was later adapted into the Law & Order: UK episode "Bad Romance."
- On My Name Is Earl, Earl was jealous of his babysitter, and poked holes in her boyfriend's condom, which (of course) resulted in her getting pregnant. She had a Shotgun Wedding with her boyfriend, and gave birth during the reception, still in her wedding dress.
- Michael remarks in one episode of My Wife and Kids that his wife, Jay, missed her prom because she was giving birth to their first-born, Junior, that night.
- In season one of Reba, Cheyenne goes into labor on her graduation day, but ignores the pains right up until she has to walk across the stage to get her diploma.
- Raising Hope has Jimmy, who is now grown but was born that way.
- In one episode of Veronica Mars, Trina Echolls is revealed to be the "prom baby" abandoned in the bathroom 25 years ago, in an elaborate gambit by Clemmons to oust the principal (the baby's father) and take his job.
Music
- The Nickelback song "Throw Yourself Away".
Baby's born on a bathroom floor
Her mother prays that it'll never cry
But nothing's wrong, you've got your prom dress on,
When they ask you'll say "it isn't mine"
Web Animation
- The CollegeHumor video, How To Prepare For Second Puberty
, brings up the "conceived-on-Prom-night" variation.
- The Most Popular Girls in School: The daughter of Saison and Blaine, named after Brittnay, although she is conceived rather than born at prom.
Western Animation
- Family Guy has a song titled "Prom Night Dumpster Baby".
- Summer from Rick and Morty. She wasn't actually born at the prom but was conceived when her parents had unprotected sex on prom night.
Real Life
- On a related, but more innocuous, note: a persistent rumor states that Winston Churchill was born in a cloakroom during a dance. He was not in fact born during the dance, but his mother went into (possibly premature) labor during it and he was born 24 hours later. She was carried from the dancefloor into a downstairs room, unable to get back to her bedroom. It was not a 'ladies room', nor a 'bathroom', but a regular reception room that just happened to be covered in cloaks and other articles at the time. When somebody asked Churchill if the story was true, he replied, "Although I was present at the occasion, I have no recollection of the events leading up to it."
- There was a case of this happening in 1997, where the mother, Melissa Drexler (dubbed the "Prom Mom"), gave birth in the women's bathroom, dumped the baby into the trash and then went back to dancing. She pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and got fifteen years, but served only three before being released on parole.
