Raised in stereotypically large Greek families, both Constantine and Anna Stavropoulos had planned to have their own large Greek family to carry on the tradition. However, after their fifth baby boy, Anna received the news that she would be unable to carry anymore children, something that devastated both of them. It wasn't that they didn't love their boys, of course, but more that they had expected to get to spread their love so much wider, to bring more happy little babies into the family. It took Anna a long time to deal with her supposed infertility, and even when she had finally gotten her head wrapped around it, she would still pray nightly that somehow the doctor was wrong. Oddly enough, it was after she slipped in a prayer to Hera, the ancient Greek Goddess of childbirth, that she found herself with a sixth round of morning sickness, quite possibly the only time in her life that she would ever be excited about rushing to empty the contents of her stomach into a toilet bowl. Whatever the case, Constantine and Anna weren't about to question their good fortune, and held their breath through every stage of the pregnancy, not daring to relax until they held the baby in their arms. Born with a full head of dark hair and dark eyes to match, little Alessandra was their own perfect Greek Goddess.

Growing up with five older brothers, no one would have been surprised if Alessandra (who quickly took to the nickname Aly once she began school, horrified at the thought of having to learn to spell her full name at the age of four) had turned out to be a tomboy. However, she went the opposite route of her brothers, becoming a complete girly girl