# Maternal Impressions and Non-Human Animals As Children



## Guttersnipe (Dec 19, 2022)

A maternal impression is an obsolete idea that certain experiences of a woman might be physically transferred into her children. John Merrick, "the Elephant Man," was thought to have been born as he was according to this "theory."

Then you have the sooterkins of European folklore. They are mouse-like beings thought to come as an afterbirth from Dutch women who sat on stoves for warmth. Mary Toft was  a woman who tricked scientists into believing she had given birth to rabbits.







						Maternal impression - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				








						Sooterkin - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				











						Mary Toft - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				




Just an interesting time period in general.


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## Yozh (Dec 20, 2022)

Hmm, wonder if sooterkins were the inspiration for “Stuart Little”?


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## Swank (Dec 20, 2022)

Glad we've gotten away from crazy ideas like sooterkins, crack babies and so-called fetal alcohol syndrome!


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## Mouse (Dec 20, 2022)

I've read about Mary Toft before. Dirty mare.


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## paranoid marvin (Dec 20, 2022)

Mouse said:


> I've read about Mary Toft before. Dirty mare.




And her husband Warren.


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## paranoid marvin (Dec 20, 2022)

Guttersnipe said:


> A maternal impression is an obsolete idea that certain experiences of a woman might be physically transferred into her children. John Merrick, "the Elephant Man," was thought to have been born as he was according to this "theory."
> 
> Then you have the sooterkins of European folklore. They are mouse-like beings thought to come as an afterbirth from Dutch women who sat on stoves for warmth. Mary Toft was  a woman who tricked scientists into believing she had given birth to rabbits.
> 
> ...



No mention of the spider-baby?


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## Guttersnipe (Dec 20, 2022)

Yozh said:


> Hmm, wonder if sooterkins were the inspiration for “Stuart Little”?


The wiki says this might be the case.


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## Montero (Dec 29, 2022)

It was thought that teddy bears would warp little girls maternal instincts........

And yet in the wild there are instances of a mother of one species helping the young of another species - lioness helping a leopard cub for example.


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