User blog comment:The Shadow User/Solana Vakarian/@comment-730941-20101016010518/@comment-217683-20101016055901

But Bronzey has a point, regardless of backgrounds. If Shep is a spacer, there's no mention to others of Shep's mother being a high-up muckey-muck in the Alliance. If Shep is a colonist, no mention of "batarians killed my parents on Mindoir" to others. And if Shep is Earth-born, no "Yeah, I never knew my parents. I was a in a street gang right up until I joined." If Shep is allowed to be so taciturn with his/her past, no matter the background, why should others be expected to be forthcoming?

And you have to figure, Garrus is hardly alone here. Miranda won't tell us who her dad is, Mordin never talks about family, Tali rarely mentions her mother, and never by name, Samara never talks about her parents and never mentioned anything about her other two daughters besides the fact that they are both Ardat-Yakshi and live in a monastery (we didn't learn their names till LOTSB) and she never mentions the "father" of her children, Zaeed never mentions any family, and all we know of Kasumi's family is that she has fond memories of her grandmother's ramen.