Fetus Exhibit Museum of Science and Industry Chicago IL

Prenatal Development

A highlight of Your Beginning is the return of Prenatal Development, the Museum’s timeless collection of 24 real human embryos and fetuses. Ranging from 28 days to 38 weeks, this timeline vividly captures the amazing stages of growth and development before birth. Originally donated to the Museum in 1939, the collection has been newly interpreted in a darkened gallery to allow for quiet reflection upon Your Beginning.

Background on the Exhibit

Collected in the 1930s by Dr. Helen Button with help from local hospitals, Prenatal Development contains specimens from the difficult times of the Great Depression. To the best of our knowledge, all failed to survive because of accidents or natural causes. Dr. Button obtained the parents’ permission to use these specimens as teaching tools.

(msichicago.org)

Published on Apr 16, 2012

45 seconds in….you will see the fetus exhibit. This has been on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL since I was child (circa 1970’s) and I believe my father stated this exhibit was around when he was younger. These are bodies of human fetuses which were stillborn or once living, died of natural causes, and donated to science. I am not certain how they are preserved, but this has to be one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen. I often wonder if they had lived, who they would be today.

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