Karen Anne Carpenter was born on March 2, 1950, at Grace New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Agnes Reuwer (March 5, 1915 – November 10, 1996) and Harold Bertram Carpenter (November 8, 1908 – October 15, 1988). Harold was born in Wuzhou 梧州市, China, where his parents were missionaries.