Effects of Cremation on Fetal Bones

The charring process is a weak point of anthropological analysis as it changes bone morphology and reduces information obtainable, specially in fetuses. This experiment aims at verifying the conservation of fetal bones after cremation. A total of 3138 fetuses of unknown sex and age were used, deriving from legal and therapeutic abortions from different hospitals of Milan. Cremations took place in modern crematoria. Nine cremation events were analyzed, each ranging from 57 to 915 simultaneously cremated fetuses. During the cremations, 4356 skeletal remains were recovered, 3756 of which (86.2%) were morphologically distinguishable. All types of fetal skeletal elements were found, with the exception of some cranial bones. Only 3.4% of individuals could be detected after the cremation process, because of the prevalence of abortions under 12 lunar weeks. All fire alterations were observed and the results were statistically analyzed. This pilot study confirmed the possibility of preservation of fetal skeletal elements after cremation.     

父母侵害胎儿权益问题研究

胎儿的民事权益应当得到保护，侵害胎儿权益也应当承担相应的民事责任。但父母能否成为侵害胎儿权益的主体，以及父母实施的何种行为可以构成侵权行为，在法理上及实践中均存在着较大争议。为了实现胎儿权益保护和家庭伦理保护之间的平衡，应当从是否婚生，是否存在故意，以及是否使用暴力等几个方面来综合考虑。此外，父母对损害发生与有过失应考虑适用过失相抵，父母的允诺应能构成阻却违法的事由。