After his mother died, he found her secret in the freezer

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/after-his-mother-died-adam-smith-discovered-the-secret-in-the-freezer/Content?oid=32329816&showFullText=true

by wormold • 7 years ago

23 23 7 years ago

riverfronttimes.com

mtmail• 7 years ago

TLDR: A mummified baby.

dang2• 7 years ago

Yes. I'd be happy to change the title to make it less baity, but couldn't think of a dignified way to do so.

The article is much more interesting than just that detail, although it goes to tragic places.

batmanthehorse• 7 years ago

I’m glad it wasn’t in the title. It was a good read and a real surprise when I got to that part.

adamnemecek• 7 years ago

Is this post really HN material?

AdmiralAsshat2• 7 years ago

Thank-you. HN's original title policy shouldn't apply when the title is so flagrantly clickbait.

kube-system3• 7 years ago

Arguably, this is not clickbait. Many define 'clickbait' as a lead that is characteristically deceptive, misleading, or exaggerated.

I'd argue this is simply a teaser, as the article certainly delivers on its promise of a 'secret'. If anything, 'secret' is understated.

DoreenMichele• 7 years ago

It's really about much more than just the dead baby. For me, the headline wasn't click bait. The obvious inference was "dead baby."

It's actually a really interesting Case Study in Serial Hidden Pregnancies.

There's a lot of data out there on hidden pregnancies. I've read a number of such stories.

My general impression is that they are typically a one time event for someone really young who comes from a conservative environment, such as a Catholic family. The event seems to frequently spur personal changes that prevent future incidents.

They make a break with the conservative social circle they come from; or they get educated about birth control; and/or they feel burned, stop drinking, stop sleeping around and become more conservative and preachy than anyone else.

What's very unusual here is she continued to successfully hide pregnancies, even after having a fallout with her Catholic family. She didn't become a serial killer either. She gave up at least two children for adoption.

It's a strange case because she basically is a woman who had many lovers over the years. That's much more typically male behavior.

Men fairly often pick up women randomly and may have no idea how many children they fathered on one-night stands. Women usually can't manage to get away with that or, if they do, it's because they are infertile and incapable of becoming pregnant.

This is one of the elements of Mae West's life. She couldn't have children.

My sister had serious fertility problems. I had my first baby unexpectedly at age 22 and never managed to have a real career. My sister ended up with a real career and finally had her only child in her mid thirties after years of intervention.

She read extensively on related topics. She concluded that infertility was a root cause of serious careers for some women, herself included. She once said if things had been different, she could see having four kids. But they weren't.

So what's strange here is this woman wasn't privileged. She didn't have the money to support a large brood. She took a long time to distance herself from her conservative family. She wasn't infertile.

Yet she kept drinking and sleeping around. And she sometimes successfully hid the resulting pregnancies.

Following her death, relatives are still trying to piece together the full story. There remains at least one hidden pregnancy unaccounted for according to the records they've been able to find.

zxcvbn4038• 7 years ago

The title is a little click bait-ish but the story was fun to read - like one of the shorter Damned Interesting articles people used to post here. https://www.damninteresting.com/

I started playing the audio versions in the car during family vacations and now they are tradition whenever we take a road trip.

After his mother died, he found her secret in the freezer

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