Star child

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Small child's grave in the main cemetery in Karlsruhe . In common grave in the foreground fail-born children are buried. In the background are the individual graves of stillborn and early deceased children.

Children who have died are referred to as star children , more rarely butterfly children or angel children, especially if they died before, during or soon after the birth.

In the narrower and original sense, the terms children who were not given an entry as a person in the birth / death register due to additional requirements of the civil status legislation (in Germany at least 500 grams of body weight or less than 500 grams at least 24th week of pregnancy). Over time, the term was used to refer to more and more children who died early.

The poetic word creation is based on the idea of ​​naming children who “reached heaven” (poetically: the stars) “before they were allowed to see the light of day”.

The term 'star child' should not be confused with 'star gazer'. The latter refers to a child who is born alive, but with the head upside down ( posterior occipital position ) and thus born looking upwards.

Focus, demarcation

The term star child focuses on the child itself, in contrast to such terms as miscarriage and stillbirth , which are traditionally used not only for the process of death of the womb but also for the dead or deceased living being itself. It takes into account the intense bond that many mothers and fathers in particular already develop with the unborn child and the often intense and long-lasting grief that causes their death. The term miscarriage or stillbirth for the deceased little being and the beliefs and practices underlying these words goes against this emotional bond . For example, miscarriages were disposed of with hospital waste. A Berlin company processed this garbage, including the fetuses, into granules used in road construction. Some of the stillborn children were also given to pharmaceutical companies for research purposes.

frequency

Children who died before or at birth who do not meet the requirements for entry in the civil status register are not recorded statistically.

An indication of the frequency is provided by the change in the number of stillbirths that were associated with abandoning the additional condition 'at least 22 weeks of pregnancy or at least 500 g in weight' in France. The rate of stillbirths rose in the year following the new regulation by 0.13%, but also in the following year.

The change in definition in Germany in 1994 by reducing the minimum weight of stillbirths from 1000 g to 500 g did not find any visible entry into the nationwide statistics. In individual federal states such as Baden-Württemberg, small changes were recorded.

Germany

Funeral service for star children in Karlsruhe
Star child grave in the New Catholic Cemetery in Dresden

In Germany , the term “ Sternenkind” also reached a broad public outside of Internet sites and forums for affected parents and self-help groups for mourners from the end of 2009. The Hessian parents Barbara and Mario Martin, who lost three children at an early age in 2007 and 2008, petitioned the Bundestag to change the civil status legislation to recognize all born children as persons via the entry in the civil status register and thus also to have a regular burial enable. Legally and statistically, a distinction is made between stillbirths and miscarriages and the latter is not recorded under civil status law.

The petition, which was followed by over 40,000 citizens, sparked extensive coverage. It was supported by the Petitions Committee and presented in favor of the Federal Government , which initiated the legislative process in 2012 . The draft of the amending law provided for an amendment to the civil status ordinance so that every dead child can be notarized at the responsible registry office. In 1938, 1958, 1979 and 1994 the conditions for inclusion in the civil status register were changed.

In May 2012, Federal Family Minister Kristina Schröder and Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich proposed that the cabinet give all stillborn children an “existence”. The German Bundestag decided in early February 2013 unanimously to change the personal status law. The Federal Council approved this regulation at the beginning of March 2013, so that parents of stillborn children can have them registered in the registry office - even retrospectively and regardless of their birth weight and the length of pregnancy.

With the entry into force of the Civil Status Amendment Act (PStRÄndG) of May 7, 2013, the notarization of star children in the civil status register was not implemented. There is now the possibility to receive a notarized certificate according to Annex 13 of the Civil Status Ordinance (PStV) from the registry office on request without notice and informally, but this is not a civil status certificate and therefore cannot have any legal effects in terms of content; this also applies in particular to the procurement of public services. The issuance of a notarized certificate also relates to cases that already occurred before the new legal regulations came into force.

Unlike the civil status law, which applies nationwide by law, the burial of star children is regulated by funeral laws at the state level and accordingly differs in terms of the rights and obligations of parents with regard to the burial of their star child. The laws differ from each other both in terms of terminology and content. In a rough overview, one can differentiate between the following cases:

  1. The womb up to 500 g and born without any sign of life does not require a burial and must be "disposed of ethically". This means that it must not be taken away with the clinic waste and is usually stored frozen until the next collective burial of the clinic takes place and then buried in the cemetery . However, parents have the right to be buried (in Bremen only after the 12th week of pregnancy). You are allowed to transport, store and bury such a star child in most federal states as you like, as you are not required to be buried. However, this also means that there is no entitlement to a social burial via the social welfare office. However, the clinics usually offer a free collective burial several times a year, to which the parents are usually invited.
  2. The stillbirth , i.e. a child who was born with over 500 g and had no signs of life, is usually buried (in Berlin, Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania only from 1,000 g, in Hesse only after the 25th week of pregnancy). This means that the parents have to bury their star child individually. You have to organize and pay for this funeral yourself. If you are not financially able to do so, you can apply for a social burial at the responsible registry office.
  3. Live-born children, regardless of their weight, who had signs of life (and that includes a pulsating umbilical cord) do not differ from adult deceased before the Burial Act. The parents must bury their child individually. The normal provisions of the federal states apply, including the possibility of a social burial.

Austria

The term star child is also widespread in Austria .

In 2012, an affected mother, Anita Ogris, launched an online petition with the aim of creating the conditions throughout Austria by federal law to be able to register a child in the registry office and have it notarized at the request of the parents , even if a Birth weight is less than 500 grams. Ideally, entry should be possible for all miscarried children as soon as the pregnancy is determined.

On May 22, 2014, the petition "Abolition of the 500 gram limit in the event of miscarriages and voluntary entry of all children in the civil status register" was presented by MP Hermann Lipitsch together with the initiator Anita Ogris, affected parents from Austria and the chairman of the Pusteblume association, Simone Strobl , presented to the President of the National Council, Barbara Prammer . The parliamentary petition was approved by 3,095 Austrians.

On October 22, 2014, the National Council unanimously approved the required amendment to the law “Abolition of the 500 gram limit in the event of miscarriages and voluntary entry of all children in the civil status register”. The six-party motion for a resolution read: The Federal Government is requested to draw up a legislative initiative and forward it to the National Council as a government bill, with which the legal framework is created so that at the request of the parents, children who have been born abortions can also be notarized under Austrian law.

On November 22, 2016, the decision to amend the law was passed in the Council of Ministers and on December 14, 2016 in the plenary session of the National Council. On December 22, 2016, the Federal Council approved the change in the law.

With the entry into force of the amended Federal Law on the Regulation of Civil Status (Personal Status Act 2013 - PStG 2013), it will be possible from April 1, 2017 in Austria that children who died prematurely (miscarriages) weighing less than 500 grams can be entered in the civil status register and a certificate issued . The entry is voluntary, retrospectively for an unlimited period, with a medical confirmation from the mother or father (with the consent of the mother). According to the Civil Status Act 2013 § 57a, the certificate about miscarriages must contain:

  1. if necessary, name given by the mother or possibly by the father (Section 36 (7));
  2. if necessary the sex of the child;
  3. the day and possibly place of the child's miscarriage;
  4. the names of the mother and, if applicable, the father (Section 36 (7));
  5. the date of issue;
  6. the names of the registrar.

The notarized certificate can be requested at the registry office and does not represent a civil status certificate in the original sense. It therefore has no legal effect on other laws, such as the Corpses and Funeral Act or the Maternity Protection Act.

France

France knows no legal or statistical difference between miscarriages and stillbirths. So there is no problem there with births not entered in the civil status register. The years 1993 to 2008 are an exception.

literature

Mourning for star children

  • Barbara and Mario Martin: You live on in your heart: How we lost three children and won the fight for their dignity. A guide for parents of star children . October 2014, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-8633-4028-5 .
  • Barbara Künzer-Riebel / Gottfried Lutz (eds.): Just a breath of life - parents tell of the death of their baby and the time of their grief . Kaufmann-Verlag, 6th expanded edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-7806-0951-9 .
  • Hannah Lothrop: Good hope - sudden end: miscarriage, stillbirth and losses in early life. Accompaniment and new hope for parents. Kösel-Verlag 1998.
  • Sabine Bode, Fritz Roth : When the cradle stays empty. Help for grieving parents , Bastei Lübbe (Lübbe Ehrenwirth); Edition: OA (August 20, 2002), ISBN 978-3-431-03344-1 .
  • Alexandra Bosch (Ed.): Our children, actually. How mothers and fathers experience the early loss of their child. Maximilian project, Baden-Baden 2004, ISBN 978-3-00-015296-2 .
  • Christine Fleck-Bohaumilitzky , Christian Fleck (Ed.): You have hardly lived. Grief counseling for parents who have lost their children before, during or shortly after the birth. Kreuz-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-7831-2717-1 .
  • Volker Ragosch (Ed.), Birgith Zebothsen: Sternenkinder. When pregnancy ends too soon. Publisher: Südwest, 2007, ISBN 978-3-517-08374-2 .
  • Tomy Mullur / Andrzej Krzyzan: Happy waiting - early death. If parents lose their child before, during or shortly after the birth; Experiences - rituals - bereavement support, 2009 Tyrolia, ISBN 978-3-7022-3029-6 .
  • Petra Hillebrand: Fly, little butterfly. Thoughts on mourning a child , 2nd edition, unchanged edition 2011 (1st edition 2009) Tyrolia, ISBN 978-3-7022-2992-4 .
  • Ute Horn: As quiet as a butterfly: Farewell to the miscarriage. , Publisher: Scm Hänssler, 2011, ISBN 978-3-7751-4378-3
  • Maureen Grimm and Anja Sommer: Born quietly . Panama Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-938714-13-3 .

On the background of the development of the strong bond between mother and unborn child, the cause of the often deep grief in the event of loss, and on prenatal psychology (general, not bereavement):

Web links

Wiktionary: Sternenkind  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Angel child  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Butterfly child  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. List of links , accessed on October 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ z. B. www.sternenkinderbruecke.de , accessed on October 16, 2012.
  3. ↑ a b “Star children” should be considered persons , Die Welt, May 6, 2012.
  4. ↑ Ralf Korrek: term Sternenkinder , on the website land-der-sternenkinder.de.Retrieved on October 16, 2012.
  5. ↑ a b c Conny Neumann: As if it had never existed . In: Der Spiegel . No. 42 , 2012, p. 38 f . ( online - October 15, 2012 ).
  6. ↑ a b c d See extensive explanations in the article stillbirth
  7. ↑ Personal Status Ordinance (PStV), version valid until May 15, 2013
  8. ^ Course of the petition. In: JLTFPW [Barbara and Mario Martin's website]. Retrieved March 8, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Printed matter 17/10489 of August 15, 2012: Draft of a law to amend the legal provisions on personal status (PDF; 2.4 MB).
  10. ↑ Star Child . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . February 2, 2013, p. 4 .
  11. ↑ New legal regulation: "Star children" can get names. In: Spiegel Online . May 14, 2013, accessed March 8, 2014 .
  12. ↑ BGBl I , p. 1122
  13. ↑ FAQ of the BMFSFJ
  14. ↑ State-specific funeral laws (BstG). In: Initiative Rainbow. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Sternenkinder - Legal. Retrieved April 27, 2020 . Table with regulations of the individual federal states , www.aeternita.de.
  16. ↑ z. B. Website of the association Leben ohne Dich ( Memento of the original dated February 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leben-ohne-dich.com
  17. ↑ Activism: Petition Online Austria - Miscarried children should be officially recognized as children! , accessed October 16, 2012.
  18. ^ Association Dandelion. Pusteblume association, accessed on September 6, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Upper Austrian news: According to the law, a person only exists from 500 grams . ( Online [accessed August 29, 2017]).
  20. ^ Association Dandelion | Petition is on the way! Retrieved August 29, 2017 .
  21. ↑ 18 / PET (XXV. GP) - Abolition of the 500 gram limit for miscarriages and voluntary entry of all children in the civil status register. In: www.parlament.gv.at. Retrieved December 13, 2016 .
  22. ↑ 262 / UEA (XXV. GP) - "Star Children". In: www.parlament.gv.at. Retrieved December 13, 2016 .
  23. ↑ PK no. 1395/2016. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
  24. ↑ PK no. 1460/2016. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .
  25. ↑ Entry of star children possible. Association Pusteblume, December 22, 2017, accessed April 7, 2017 .
  26. ↑ RIS - Entire legal regulation for the Civil Status Act 2013 - Federal law consolidated, version of 07.04.2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017 .