The Fifth Child is a short novel by the British writer Doris Lessing, first published in the United Kingdom in 1988, and since translated into a number of languages. The book describes the changes in the happy life of a married couple, Harriet and David Lovatt, which occur as a consequence of the birth of Ben, their fifth child. A sequel, Ben, in the World (2000) further develops Ben's life after he has left his family.