Canada
Third Native family reports hospital mailed fetus


The health minister in Ontario, Canada, ordered an investigation into reports that Native families were mailed the remains of their miscarried fetuses.

Two families from the North Caribou Lake First Nation and another from the Fort Hope First Nation say they received the remains through the mail. The hospital involved in the first two cases admits some human tissue was mailed but denies they were of a miscarried baby.

"From our perspective culturally, a fetus is a fetus whether it's blood clot and tissue or not," Charles Fox of the Assembly of First Nations told the Canadian Press.

Health minister George Smitherman named a doctor to investigate what happened. The hospital in the North Caribou Lake cases says a new employee who didn't follow protocol is responsible for the mailings.

Get the Story:
Investigator named in mailed fetus cases (CBC 5/21)
Fetal remains mailed to parents (CP 5/22)

Related Stories:
Hospital denies sending Native fetus through mail (5/21)
Native mother's miscarried baby sent through mail (5/20)