Back when I was pregnant with my son, ultrasound pictures of the fetus were blurry and barely defined. Most people couldn’t tell what they were looking at! Still, we treasured them.
But now, forget the photos these days, in which you can see the dimples on the baby’s cheek. Now you can actually hold your unborn “child in a snow globe,” a resin-cast 3D impression of the fetus, according to a story by Allegra Tepper at mashable.com.
She reported that a health clinic in Tokyo, Hiro-o Ladies, currently allows pregnant women and their husbands to get a model, obtained from 3D printing where first the printer displays the model, then renders it in different shapes and sizes, “all of which float in clear lucite.”
White resin is used for the fetus, and clear resin, for the mother's body.
A company called Fasotec, maker of 3D printers, developed the technology, and they call it "Tensi no Katachi," or "Shape of an Angel,” Tepper noted. “It's kind of like a snow globe – of your unborn child.”
And it’s not that expensive. The service costs 100,000 yen, or about $1,300, according to Tepper.
It’s not totally without risk. Moms-to-be must have an MRI first to get the image.
She explained that clients can select a 3D image capture of the baby's entire body, or just focus on a single body part, like a foot or an ear, though that seemed a little mystifying to me.
But that’s not the only unusual way soon-to-be parents are experimenting with the announcement, according to Meredith Bennett-Smith. Now there are gender reveal cupcakes, too, where the obstetrician puts the sex of the baby in an envelope and then bakes it into the cake.
But the snow globe gets my vote. And get this: Tepper revealed that the 3D models are also available as cell phone charms, though I’m not so sure I’d want that swinging from my phone every time I answered it.
But think how much fun you’ll have when he’s 16 and throwing a tantrum because he can’t have the car keys, and you show his friends.
Edited by
Braden Becker
