“Missing Angels” are babies

that die before birth.

We expect to lose our parents. When they die, a huge piece of our past dies with them. But when a child is stillborn, regardless of the reason, a huge chunk of our future is lost with that child. The dreams we had. The joy they would have given us had they lived. The reward of raising them. These all die too.

Imagine how different the world might be if prominent leaders in government, the arts, or science, had not survived birth. Without Churchill, would England have found the resolve to fight on to victory in World War II? Who would have painted the Sistine Chapel? Or discovered penicillin?

Until recently there was no national advocacy group promoting stillbirth awareness, research and reform. Then Richard K. Olsen and his wife Sharon lost their daughter Camille. Richard was 60 at the time and Camille was his only child. Sharon was 39 and Camille was her only child too.

Never one content to play the role of a victim, Olsen fought back by forming The Missing Angel Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of stillbirth, the destroyer of our dreams. He also founded The National Stillbirth Society to "educate, agitate, and legislate" on behalf of stillbirth and the parents who suffer.

MAF is the fund-raising arm for the National Stillbirth Society. It operates this memorial site where parents can post their stillborn baby's name, delivery date and picture. If parents have a memorial website for their baby, we will include a link to that site.

There is no charge for listing a baby. We rely on donations from parents, family and friends to support this site and help fund the fight against stillbirth. It's one thing to mourn and grieve for our babies but we need more than tears to win the fight against stillbirth. We have decades of ignorance and disregard to overcome. Women everywhere need to be told know that they are at risk and the steps they can take to reduce that risk.

Please, go to the Missing Angel pictured to the left and click on the box below it where it says "Just Give" to donate. Be sure to include your name and any message you may want us to send to the parents of the baby in whose memory you are making your gift. Our stillbirth mothers will tell you, a donation in their child's memory is far better than flowers. Flowers can't prevent stillbirth but your generous donation can. And that's what matters most.

Last Updated 01/11/2006     Design donated by Web-Writer