Fetomaternal Microchimerism

Wow! That’s pretty much the only word to describe my thinking right now. It’s been a heck of a week, and I don’t even want to go into details because they don’t really matter. The “wow” is more a declaration of how awesome God is. It’s not like I don’t know this, but sometimes when you are looking for explanation for events or just something to help you make sense of things He slaps you in the face with another amazing thing.

Brace yourself.



I learned an amazing new thing today. It is called fetomaternal microchimerism.  Kind of an intense word huh? Have you ever heard it before? Yeah, me neither. Fetomaternal microchimerism is the term to explain that every child literally leaves behind a piece of themselves in their mother. That’s right. Cells from each child that a woman houses in her uterus stay with that mother forever. Let me state that again, every child leaves a microscopic part of themselves with their mother that remains with that mother FOREVER.

I’m almost at a loss for words. This seems like such an amazing thing to me. We are physically linked to our children for life--how awesome is that?

I learned this fact when reading about Mary. The Assumption of Mary was August 15^th. For those of you who aren’t Catholic it is a holy day where we celebrate Mary’s body and soul being assumed into heaven. Mary’s body was a living tabernacle for Jesus--not just when she was pregnant with him, but forever. Christ’s divine body did not undergo corruption, even those few cells that were left in Mary’s body. For some reason it helps me understand the assumption of Mary at an even deeper level.

When you think about fetomaternal microchimerism in today’s world it’s just as amazing. All mothers out there know that they are forever changed the moment they become pregnant. It doesn’t take birthing a child for your whole life to change in an instant. The moment that test is positive your life is forever changed. I’ve always thought of myself as being a vessel for my children. I’ve always believed that I need to be the best vessel I possibly can be so that they can be as healthy as possible. Now I know that my body will forever be a vessel for my children. They will always be a physical part of me regardless of where they are physically or mentally.

Now if only there was a way to control their actions with those few cells!! J