Parents Release Photos of Baby Miscarried at 14 Weeks to Show Humanity of Unborn Children

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Nov 1, 2018   |   11:26AM   |   Washington, DC

The dehumanizing of unborn babies by the abortion industry affects more than just families who have abortions. It hurts our culture in ways that stretch far beyond the abortion issue.

Sharran Sutherland, a Missouri mother who miscarried in April, felt deeply how little respect her son’s life received when he died after 14 weeks in her womb, according to The Mirror.

“This world has done a great job at dehumanising unborn babies,” Sutherland said. “The abortion industry has done a great job at that but it doesn’t just affect women who are getting abortions. It affects women who have lost their babies too – because the world doesn’t view their children as babies.

“This isn’t just about a woman grieving over her baby and not being able to give her baby life, it’s about not recognizing that this is a baby. It’s just a tiny baby,” she continued.

Sutherland and her husband, Michael, recently shared photos of their son Miran online to help people understand that he was a valuable human being. Their October social media post went viral, with more than 36,000 likes, comments and shares, according to the report.

Miran died in the womb and was born April 23, Sutherland said. She opted for labor induction rather than a D&C because she wanted to be able to see her son’s body.

“I just couldn’t believe how perfect everything was on him. His ears, his tongue, his gums, his lips. I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “You have those baby books that show you diagrams of a baby in utero but he didn’t look like anything I had ever seen. I was just filled with such awe and amazement with him.”

Sutherland said she can still remember how hurt and angry she felt when her doctor called Miran “medical waste.”

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“The doctor said we can either dispose of it as medical waste, or you can call a funeral home,” she said. “I was so angered by her calling my baby a ‘fetus’. I couldn’t believe she would insinuate he was medical waste. I was so angered by that.”

The family sought the advice of a funeral director. The grieving mother said they did not want a full funeral, but they also wanted to honor Miran’s life. Based on the funeral director’s advice, she said they took Miran’s tiny body home and eventually buried him in their garden.

“I was able to get his handprints, take his pictures, hold him, grieve to an extent. But I had that time with him which I think really helped a lot. When it came time to bury him, that was hard,” she said.

The family said they hoped that by sharing the photos of Miran publicly they would make an impact on someone else’s life. And they did.

After posting his photos online, a friend contacted Sutherland. She told her that she had been thinking about an abortion but decided against it after seeing Miran’s photos.

“I couldn’t believe that he had touched somebody. I had hoped for it but if it was someone that close, it was amazing,” Sutherland said. “I thought, if that’s all Miran’s life was meant to do, then so be it.”

At 14 weeks, Miran already had fingers and toes, a heartbeat, brain waves and his own unique fingerprints. If his parents could have watched him in the womb, they may have seen him yawning, stretching, sighing or sucking his thumb.

“Experts estimate the 10-week embryo possesses approximately 90% of the 4,500 body parts found in adults,” according to the Endowment for Human Development. “This means that approximately 4,000 permanent body parts are present just eight weeks after conception.”

Every baby in the womb is a precious, valuable human being. And it’s tragic that our culture does not recognize that.