Miscarriage, stillbirth and pregnancy symbols on a genogram
This page shows the Whitaker family, where Simon and Rebecca have three living children, a miscarriage in 2015, a stillborn son in 2018 and a current pregnancy, all drawn in birth order on one sibling line.
Updated October 2026Notation follows McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, Genograms: Assessment and Treatment (4th ed., 2020)
Cite this diagram
Genogram Pro. (2026, October 20). Miscarriage, stillbirth and pregnancy symbols on a genogram [Diagram]. https://genogrampro.com/guide/genogram-symbols/miscarriage-stillbirth
Miscarriage
The 2015 miscarriage is a triangle with an X, drawn between Phoebe and Toby in birth order.
Stillbirth
Simon and Rebecca's son, stillborn in 2018, is a small square with an X and no age inside the symbol.
Pregnancy
Rebecca's current pregnancy, the youngest in birth order, is a triangle at the right end of the sibling line.
Tell the pregnancy and pregnancy loss symbols apart
A pregnancy and each pregnancy loss have their own child line from the parents and are drawn in their place in the birth order like any other child.
Deceased
An X through the symbol of a person who has died.
Pregnancy
A triangle in the child's place in the birth order.
Miscarriage
A triangle with an X, for a pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage.
Abortion
A triangle with an X and a short bar, for an induced abortion.
Stillbirth
A small square or circle with an X, for a baby who was stillborn.
Draw each pregnancy outcome on the sibling line
- Draw a pregnancy as a triangle. The editor draws a current pregnancy with no dates, as for Rebecca's pregnancy at the right end of the sibling line.
- Mark a miscarriage with an X through the triangle. The editor prints the year of the miscarriage above the symbol on the right, 2015 for the Whitakers.
- Add a short bar for an induced abortion. The abortion symbol is the miscarriage triangle with a horizontal bar across it.
- Draw a stillbirth as a small square or circle with an X. A square is a boy and a circle a girl, and the editor draws the symbol at about half size with the year above it and no age inside, as for the Whitakers' son in 2018.
- Keep every outcome in birth order. On the Multicultural Family Institute's genogram symbol sheet, children are drawn in birth order from the oldest on the left, so each outcome is drawn between the children born before and after it. On the Whitakers' sibling line, Phoebe comes first, then the 2015 miscarriage, Toby, the 2018 stillbirth, Hazel and the pregnancy.
The life status section of the genogram symbols chart shows these symbols together, and the birth year, the death year and the age at death are explained in the guide to the deceased symbol.
Avoid two common mistakes with pregnancy symbols
Draw a stillbirth at the smaller size
A full-size square or circle with an X is a person who was born alive and later died, so a stillborn baby is drawn smaller.
Add the X to a miscarriage
A triangle without an X is a current pregnancy, so a miscarriage drawn without the X is read as one.
Questions people ask
See every genogram symbolWhat does the triangle symbol represent in a genogram?
A triangle on its own child line is a pregnancy. With an X through it the triangle is a miscarriage, and with an X and a short bar it is an abortion. A small triangle inside a square or a circle is a different symbol, for a gay, lesbian or bisexual person.
What is the symbol for a miscarriage on a genogram?
A miscarriage is a triangle with an X through it, drawn on a child line from the parents in its place in the birth order. The year of the miscarriage is written above the symbol on the right.
What is the stillbirth symbol?
A stillbirth is a small square for a boy or a small circle for a girl, with an X through it. The year is written above the symbol, and no age is written inside it.
What is the genogram symbol for abortion?
An induced abortion is a triangle with an X and a short horizontal bar across it, drawn on a child line in birth order like a miscarriage.
How do you show a pregnancy on a genogram?
Draw a triangle on a child line from the couple, to the right of their youngest child. The mother's own symbol does not change.
Start your genogram from this example
Open it in the editor, swap in your own names and dates, and export it as a PNG or PDF.