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1 in 5 Parents Secretly Believe Their Baby is Ugly

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Jul 15, 2013 05:28 PM EDT

One in five new parents secretly believe their baby is ugly, according to a new survey.

The survey, which asked 1,000 parents in the UK about their feelings and reactions when they first saw their babies, found that 18 percent of mothers and fathers confessed to being secretly disappointed with the looks of their newborns. However, 82 percent of parents said the strongly believed that their baby was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

Of the parents who admitted being let down by the looks of their children, more than half had discussed their feelings with their partners.  However, only 8 percent said they talked to other people about it.

An anonymous father of two told the Daily Mail that feeling disappointed about your baby's looks is taboo and isn't talked about.

"There is a lot of pressure on new parents in all kinds of ways and this is something that remains taboo and just isn't talked about," he said. "Everyone seems to think they have the most beautiful baby on earth and as a new parent you feel you have to say the same even if you privately believe your baby is ugly."

"My daughter is three now and she is gorgeous but when she arrived she was the most disgusting little thing I'd ever seen. She had a face only a mother could love, but even my wife admitted she was ugly," he explained. "She was our second child and we knew we were being objective because when our eldest girl was born we had been convinced she was beautiful. When number two arrived we both felt very differently."

"It doesn't mean you love them any less of course. In fact it brings out some very intense feelings of protection. You really feel you have to root for them in life because they aren't as good looking," he said. "I totally understand why all parents say their child is gorgeous even if they really think they fell out of the ugly tree and got hit by every branch on the way down. It's just not something you ever feel you can admit to anyone else and you do get offended if anyone ever dares to suggest your baby isn't beautiful."

"As human beings we are wired to love our babies and the poll overwhelmingly supports the theory that we all fall in love with our offspring at first sight," said a spokesman for PromotionalCodes.org.uk, who conducted the survey, according to the Daily Mail.

"But interestingly loving your baby doesn't have to mean that you think it is beautiful. It seems that every parent feels a pressure to say their new baby is beautiful but only four out of five actually believe it," he explained. "Yet the remaining fifth who secretly feel their baby is ugly don't love them any less and may even feel the need to spoil them more than they would a good looking baby."

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