Delhi museum preserves foetuses as old as 50 years, shows how life fails to take shape at times

Inside a quiet, softly lit room, rows of glass jars line wooden shelves, each filled with a clear, amber-tinted liquid in which fragile beginnings of life are suspended, quite literally.

Some jars hold barely formed embryos, others more developed foetuses with limbs, faces and organs partially shaped — or never fully formed.

For over 35 years, Mukesh Kumar has carefully tended to this collection, preserving each specimen using formalin, a solution that prevents decay and keeps delicate tissues intact.

“Some of these are 50 or even 60 years old,” he said. “Can you see this one with blond hair? This is from the British times.”

This collection belongs to the fetal autopsy museum at Lady Hardinge Medical College (LMHC) in New Delhi.

“This is how medical science teaches embryology, helps families understand developmental conditions and advances genetic research,” explains Dr Sheetal Joshi, Professor, Department of Anatomy at the LHMC and nodal officer for organ and body donation awareness.

“It’s not about rarity — it’s about offering real examples that illuminate how life grows and, at times, fails to grow,” she said.

Dr Joshi explained that these specimens tell the story of a wide range of anomalies. Conjoined twins, for example, are among the most striking — identical twins whose embryos tried to split but failed, staying fused at various points like the chest, abdomen or pelvis. These occur when the fertilised egg splits late, about two weeks after conception.

“In some cases, if only non-vital organs are shared, doctors can separate the twins surgically, but when organs like the heart or brain are joined, separation is nearly impossible,” she noted.

Triplet pregnancies are also part of the collection. She said, “Whether identical, fraternal or mixed, they often result from late pregnancies or assisted reproductive technologies. These babies are born prematurely and frequently require intensive care, making their study crucial for improving maternal and neonatal outcomes.”

Other specimens reveal the devastating effects of nutritional deficiencies and genetic abnormalities.

Anencephaly, a defect where the brain and skull fail to develop properly, often stems from low levels of folic acid in early pregnancy. Cyclopia, a condition where the baby’s face forms a single eye in the forehead, is linked to severe brain malformations. Phocomelia, in which limbs are missing or shortened, became widely known from the thalidomide tragedy of the 1950s.

Sirenomelia, or mermaid syndrome, shows fused lower limbs, often accompanied by underdeveloped kidneys or bladder.

In some jars, the more detailed conditions of sacromelia and encephalocele are preserved —where the lower limbs are fused like a mermaid’s tail or the brain is exposed due to skull malformation. These specimens are studied to understand how drugs like anticonvulsants or folic acid deficiency disrupt normal growth.

Dr Joshi explained that many of the specimens come from cases of stillbirth or medically terminated pregnancies, where families, after counselling, chose to donate the foetus for research.

The tissues are used to create microscope slides for histological studies or to build a morphological understanding of congenital disorders. Genetic research, counselling for future pregnancies and medical training all benefit from this archive, she added.

“This is how we build a base for understanding developmental disorders,” Dr Joshi said. “By studying these specimens, clinicians can better counsel families, surgeons can learn how structures form or fail and genetic researchers can trace patterns that might prevent or manage such conditions,” she said.

Each preserved fetus, no matter how malformed or incomplete, contributes to a deeper understanding of life’s beginning — and its uncertainties.