In years past, it was popular for sentimental parents to have their baby’s first pair of shoes bronzed. That fad has slowly disappeared with the advent of ultrasound technology. Who wants Baby’s shoes bronzed when you can have a 3D ultrasound? My kids were born before the 3D ultrasound became readily available and I have to admit to some jealousy over the moms today that get the ultrasound picture that they don’t have to decipher. But what if that’s just not enough? What if you want something truly three-dimensional to commemorate your baby? How about a bronzed baby?
Now don’t freak out. We’re not talking real-live bronzed babies here – just a bronze model of the baby. An ultrasound center in London, England is offering a service that allows parents to have what is essentially a bronze sculpture of their babies made. When the baby is safely developed, at about 24 weeks, 3D ultrasound is used with a special printer to create a cast of the mold. A special dust and glue combination is used instead of ink to create layers to the mold.
Some parents report that it is like they’ve already met their babies when they are born after having a bronze made. The center offers that the service can help in the grieving process of parents whose children may not survive birth because of genetic conditions or other pregnancy challenges. The process comes at a price of £1200 (about $1750) and takes around two and a half weeks to complete. It’s not clear when or even if this will become a wide-spread service, but I can certainly see celebrity parents getting offers to showcase their baby bronzes to the highest bidder instead of us common folk having to wait until the babies are actually born.
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