Accident of birth is a phrase pointing out that no one has any control of, or responsibility for, the circumstances of their birth or parentage. With a modern scientific understanding of genetics, one can reasonably call any human being's entire genome an accident of birth. The place of birth of a baby has an effect in immigration law of many nations, so that an "accidental" birth in an airport lounge may entitle a person to a passport in later life.
More broadly, gender, family circumstances, cultural background, access to education, career opportunities, inheritance rights, are all examples of accidents of birth.
The term has a medical usage, covering for example cephalhematoma and suffocation.[1] Its frequent use is with accident in the sense of contingent attribute. The phrase "accidents of birth" was used in the 1698 edition of Discourses Concerning Government by Algernon Sidney.[2]
Writing on wealth inequality in 1881, the American Lester Frank Ward gave an opinion:
It is obvious that mere accident of birth and position is sufficient to account for the great bulk of this inequality; that real intelligence, beyond the coarse cunning inspired by avarice, has little or nothing to do with it [...][3]
When James Truslow Adams defined the American Dream, "a better, richer, deeper life for every individual", that was "regardless of the position in society which he or she may occupy by the accident of birth."[4] Gordon Brown advocated for social mobility, as an antidote to accident of birth or "the brute luck of circumstances".[5]