Is there a culture that celebrates day of birth, day of conception?

Question

Is there any culture that celebrates the day of conception instead of the tipical birthday we enjoy in occidental countries?

It would be a more exact event in some ways, imho.

Answer 1

I have two answer that open a bit the celebration of birth from the day of conception to the day where the pregnancy is planned (a bit earlier) and the first of every year. Thus I know I'm a bit away from an actual answer but allow an approach.

I came across this story in French while well socializing (wasting so much time on social networks). I was glad to find a reference to this in English (had lost the first post in my FB feed).

The African birth song

The article I first found out was claiming like the following:

There is a tribe in Africa where the birth date of a child is counted not from when they were born, nor from when they are conceived but from the day that the child was a thought in its mother’s mind.

And when a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. And after she’s heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child’s father, and teaches it to him. And then, when they make love to physically conceive the child, some of that time they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it.

And then, when the mother is pregnant, the mother teaches that child’s song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people around her sing the child’s song to welcome it. And then, as the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child’s song.

If the child falls, or hurts its knee, someone picks it up and sings its song to it. Or perhaps the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.

This seemed like a really beautiful concept, but I was sad to find out as the linked article claims that this is pure invention, that no tribe seems to do these rituals or anything looking like this (or at least need to prove their existence yet). This comment helps find the origins of this story in the writings of Jack Kornfiel, A Path with Heart (Bantam Books, 1993), that seems to be inspired from an African FABLE.

But still, no real proof of this practice before his testimony.

The way Korean count their age

If you are interested in Korean culture, you will probably know about this. The Korean have another way to count age.

First on you birthday, you start by already being 1 year old.

Then on each first of January, you stack up one year more, so everyone celebrate the same day.

This gets us to where we can actually get close to an actual answer to your question:

If you were conceived on the first of January, you would celebrate your conceiving every year at a perfect timing. This will still be only for a small portion of people though.

If what you wanted was a way to celebrate a child coming into this world on another date, these answers can match!