Stillborn remains; can you store them at home?

It ispossible. Legal? That I dont know.. I sort of agree with you on the idea that it is THAT PERSONS child.... so in a morbid sense , they can do as they wish But then again... well.. I dunno.
You remember that singer Marilyn Manson?
He has a child preserved in his home . It has been proven, photographed... ( he is wierd to say the least..) but HE has done it. he also has millions of dollars to allow him to do that if there were any legal reprocussions to it, he could afford to get out of it.
Formaldehyde is usually used to preserve organic material (tissues, organs etc..) and according to size/weight of specimine, it is entirely POSSIBLE to preserve a baby in ones home because it would only take a small amount. Meaning... you wouldnt have to have an enormous container to keep the specimine in.
I believe.... if I remember correctly, 1/2 cup per 1 lb of tissue is what is needed. If a child were about 7 lbs, then they would only need a container about the size of a small book box to properly preserve the tissue.
However... I PERSONALY would question the stance taken on wanting to keep a baby preserved in that way in ones home. But that is just my opinion.

But, to answer your question.. yes.. it is possible.
I dont know that you would find anything about it being legal? if I were to break it down, I would think that it is entirely legal. The natural child of a parent , in the legal sense, BELONGS to them. Even in death. We have the right to choose HOW we want our children burried.. so I would think we would have the right to choose to preserve them? You think?
I could be wrong.. but I dont know that there are such laws in place to prohibit someone from doing that.

Mummified remains would be a very hard thing to accomplish for the average person. Not only would it take alot of time, but you would have to be able to afford and arrange the perfect atmosphere to allow the mummification to take place. Scientists do it alot. I remember when we were studying the break down of human tissues after death in school, I got to see an artifically created mummy. MAN! that was WAY cool... but it took 2 years in a lab to get the desired outcome. I couldnt imagine the regular family being able to afford that , or for that matter, having access to people who WOULD do that for them.
If this family has a 'baby mummy' that they claim is thier child, I would want to see it.... I wouldnt believe them.
( up, you guessed right.. im wierd ;-) )

I have no clue on any of the legalities of something like this, but the thought itself is rather gruesome, it not totally twisted. (my opinion only) I mean thoughts of why someone would do that conjures up all sorts of weird visions in my imagination. I mean would they take the baby out now and then to look at it? Would they "celebrate" a birthday in some way? Having never lost a baby that way, I can only imagine the feelings of grief a parent must go through, but this kind of action, if it is indeed true, goes beyond "normal" grief. That's just morbid.

If preserved properly, you could not remove the specimine from the container. It has to be sealed, air tight .
If it is to be preserved for YEARS it needs to have the formaldehyde changed every... oooohhh... I dont remember now. But it has to be changed.
Oxygen promotes decay. Any oxygen the specimine is exposed to will begin the decomposition process.

( im sorry to keep using the word ' specimine ' when the subject is about a baby. It is just how I was taught to refer to tissue samples, human or not , that are preserved. )

and yes lady... morbid INDEED. But, every person grieves diffrently.. some who are a little more off thier rocker then others , may see this as a wonderful thing to do!

For those people, I would prescribe some Haldol...

I can't find any documentation of THAT, either; and it seems like there would be reference at the very least online...

Find his book. It all started there.
He wrote about it, then people flooded him for proof.
This was about 10 years ago? maybe longer..It may take some digging....

but, then again, with his off the wall style and OUT THERE behavior, it may have just been a ploy, or act to boost sales.
given that, i shouldnt be so gung ho about it... sorry

Re: Stillborn remains; can you store them at home?

Your friend clearly needs to start hanging out with a better class of people.


There is, regrettably, a gap in my legal education at the exact point where the answer to this question is located.

Re: Stillborn remains; can you store them at home?


Aw, geez, Joe! I thought you were a walking encyclopedia of legal information! How about the trivia parts of the question? How about anecdotal similar cases to consider? I've pretty much convinced myself shewolf's M. Manson story is a red herring, but there are some, usually old and macabre tales, of illegitimate children... I read a bunch about lawsuits to get life insurance benefits for stillborns... about the change in laws and how it affects~didn't affect the Connor Peterson case... But nothing, absolutely nothing about parents wanting to keep mummified remains of a child at home... Would it be in health department laws, or where?

health department makes sense to me...

sigh. I have a friend who had a miscarriage in her bathtub, and I can't remember what she said she did with the miscarried - I think she didn't say. Hate to just ask her, even now it would be hard for her to have me ask. Impossible.

I suppose many women flush. Or wrap like more kotex pads, while grieving, or sometimes being relieved, or, prehaps most often, both at the same time.

This has not happened to me, so I don't know. I am sure it is a painful subject.

I saw a movie when I was a small child where this woman was celebrating her daughters birthday. All these kids came over and were happily awaiting the birthday girl to come into the room. When it was time for the girl to come blow out her candles, the mother went to get her. In her room, inside of a coffin, was her dead daughter, who she kept. The mother lifted her out, and the whole body crumbled, face first. Needless to say it left a strong impression on me. It also taught me that there's just something wrong with keeping remains around the house. If it was sanitary, people would do it all the time (what with the costs of burials being so high).
Cremated remains kept at home also creep me out, but they're considered "normal." I guess the difference is the visual...who wants to see a decaying body hanging around the house...or a baby in formaldehyde, all discolored and whatnot?

Can you take a human to the taxidermist?

Johnny Knoxville on Jackass tried that with his grandma, and it really didn't work...but he did find someone who debated the idea of doing it.

The main concern was keeping the skin in tact.

The philosopher Jeremy Bentham has his body in this glass container; it's his bones with wax molding for his face and hands. He wanted people to remember him, and on important days, they wheel him out and set him at the head of the table.

People are nuts.

That's so cool

Yeah...I guess...lol

If you ever wanna visit him, he "lives" at University College, University of London. I'm sure he'd love visitors!

no I mean really cool...otherwise the wax would get all tacky. they must keep the place at 50 degrees or below all the time

LOL! Yeah, no ****. :wink:

Hopefully they don't wheel him out in the summer time for picnics and whatnot...restoring him would be a mess. I doubt they'd ever be able to replicate that handsome wax face of his.

Maybe we could request a small, indoor dinner party with him.

Indoor party sounds perfect. The sun wouldn't get to him and he'd remain intact.

On second thought...indoor parties can get kinda hot. Ol' Jeremy may need to wait in the other room while we "party." :wink:

My place or yours?

What are you suggesting?