Delivery right on time
Local family welcomes fourth-generation baby born on the same day
It is not every day that a father can say he shares his birthday with his son. What is even less common is a person who can say they hit the milestone of being the fourth generation baby born on the same day as their parent, grandparent and greatgrandparent.
Once Joaquín Fox Gaspar becomes old enough to speak, however, that is just the claim he will be able to make.
Gaspar was born earlier this month on July 5 at 12:55 a.m. at Yuma Regional Medical Center, according to his father, Brandon Gaspar.
Brandon himself was born on July 5, 1985. His late father, also named Joaquín Gaspar, was born on July 5, 1963 preceded by Brandon’s late grandmother on his father’s side, Socorro Mendez who was born on July 5, 1942.
Brandon said his grandmother, who was a stayat-home mom, was originally born in Winterhaven, Calif., but moved to Yuma shortly after she was born. His father, who ended up being a handyman working odd jobs, grew up in Yuma, but spent a time in Phoenix, which ended up being Brandon’s place of birth.
The family made their way back to Yuma and now Brandon, who currently works in and is pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work, has his own son who shares the July 5 birthday. According to the Guinness World Records website, the current record for most generations born on the same day is four held by six families.
Brandon said he is presently in the process of registering his family to be listed as one of the families to tie for this record which included submitting an application, birth certificates, etc.
The birth of each generation being on the same day is completely coincidental, Brandon said, though he would joke with his girlfriend Sarah Strom who is the mother of his two children.
“I jokingly also told Sarah there’s a lot of pres-
sure for you to have a baby on the 5th of July,” he said. “I thought it was going to happen with our first child because our first child’s due date was July 3,” he said. “I thought oh my god, this is going to be it, but she was actually born premature. This time around the due date was July 13 so I thought it’s possible but at this point I just wanted a healthy baby.”
Brandon’s daughter, Grey Gaspar, was born in April about four years ago. He noted that neither child was induced and though his daughter was born premature, she is now doing well, he added.
While the family doesn’t have any particular traditions to mark the fact that
each generation was born on the same day, Brandon says he visits the graves of his grandmother and father on his birthday.
“Being a kid it was always my birthday,” he said. “It never really dawned on me that it was other peoples’ birthday. It was all about me. This year, I was joking with my family that this was the first year – not that I need anything, I am a grown man – but nobody got me anything for my birthday. It’s all about my son now.
“We do typically go to the cemetery because my dad and my nana (grandmother) are both here in Yuma,” he added. “As morbid as it sounds we swing by and talk to them a little bit.”