Pregnancy
A triangle on a genogram is a pregnancy, a child not yet born. It hangs from the parents’ line in the row of children.
Easily confused with
How to read it
SAMHSA’s guide to family therapy gives the triangle as the genogram symbol for a pregnancy. The Multicultural Family Institute’s sheet draws it in the row of Children, which it lists in birth order from the oldest on the left. The 2021 Research in Practice guide for social workers labels the same triangle unborn child.
Also searched as: genogram pregnancy, pregnancy symbol, triangle genogram.
This explains what a symbol records on a genogram. Clinicians vary the notation, and a genogram’s own key takes precedence.
A triangle means different things
Other keys use the triangle for something else. In the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ pedigree standard, a pregnancy is a diamond with a P inside, or a square or circle with a P once the baby’s sex is known, with the weeks of gestation written below. A small triangle in a pedigree is a Miscarriage (spontaneous abortion). The University of North Dakota’s child welfare guide uses a triangle for a person whose sex is unknown.
Read next
- Next in Genogram symbolsMiscarriageOn a genogram, a miscarriage is a very small circle at the end of a short line down from the parents’ line, in the row of their children.
- The same shape in Hazard warning signsExplosive atmosphere sign (Ex)Marks a place where an explosive atmosphere may occur: flammable gas, vapour, mist or dust mixed with air in amounts that could explode.
More genogram symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with triangles.
Sources
- Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Family Therapy (Treatment Improvement Protocol 39), SAMHSA Publication No. PEP20-02-02-012, updated 2020, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (govinfo.gov), Chapter 4, Counselor Note: Talking to clients about genograms
- Standard Symbols for Genograms, The Multicultural Family Institute (copy on a PBworks course wiki), Page 1
- Using genograms in practice, Practice Tool, Hannah Scott, February 2021, Research in Practice (The Dartington Hall Trust), Figure 3, page 13
- Practice resource-focused revision: Standardized pedigree nomenclature update centered on sex and gender inclusivity: A practice resource of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, Robin L. Bennett, Kathryn Steinhaus French, Robert G. Resta and Jehannine Austin, Journal of Genetic Counseling 31 (2022): 1238–1248, National Society of Genetic Counselors (Wiley), Figure 4, Pedigree symbols related to pregnancy, miscarriage, and termination of pregnancy
- QA Case Review: Genogram Resource, ND CFS Quality Assurance, revised November 2022, Children and Family Services Training Center, University of North Dakota, Step 1
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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