Mai Nati

“Mai Nati” is a long-term photographic reportage, set in Italy and started in mid-2016.

The aim of the project is to make known a little-known reality and which is often a taboo. I have been in close contact with the catholic associations that dealing with the burial of abortion fetuses spontaneously or voluntarily. Funeral rituals are identical to those used for those born alive.

The parents, from my direct experience, are almost never present during the religious function; that’s why I tried to look for a woman, Priya, that in the past, in 2014, she had wanted strongly the burial of her fetus of only 10 weeks gestation. During our meeting, she told me about how this ritual was fundamental for the psychological processing of her mourning and how this allowed her to think about taking a new pregnancy. She could not accept that her fetus would end in the trash.

Volunteers march behind the funeral procession,they celebrate the function in the communal cemetery chapel and proceed to the burial of the small white coals.

Associations form agreements with hospitals and take charge of the fetuses according to the terms of the law which prevents parents having 24 hours of time to claim the “abortive product”. If this does not happen, the hospital will deal with disposal or may delegate the assignment to third parties.

According to law only fetuses aborted after 20 weeks pregnancy can received a burial.