History Main / MaternalImpression

[[folder:Religion and Folklore]]

* ''Literature/TheHampdenshireWonder'': The ChildProdigy Victor is the son of the former cricket player Ginger Stott, whose plan was for Victor to have no exposure to cricket until the age of fourteen so Ginger could train him properly, without any bad playing habits forming in his childhood. The unnamed narrator thinks that Victor's parents' desire for him to have no preconceptions caused him to be born without instincts at all -- he had no heartbeat at birth, and had to be taught everything that other infants know instinctively. The narrator thinks it is this lack of instincts that allowed Victor's mind to become so advanced.
* At the end of ''Literature/HortonHatchesTheEgg'', [[spoiler:the chick that emerges from the egg has elephant features because Horton, not the deadbeat mother, guarded it]].

Historically, it was typically an explanation for the existence of birth defects and congenital disorders (and as an excuse when [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe a baby didn't look like the supposed father]], especially in cases of a ChocolateBaby). Modern genetic theory has been a TropeBreaker for that, and it has mostly become a ForgottenTrope. When it crops up in modern works, it will typically be as a DownplayedTrope or ImpliedTrope, such as children taking on characterological traits via RuleOfSymbolism.

Historically, it was typically an explanation for the existence of birth defects and congenital disorders. Modern genetic theory has been a TropeBreaker for that, and it has mostly become a ForgottenTrope. When it crops up in modern works, it will typically be as a DownplayedTrope or ImpliedTrope, such as children taking on characterological traits via RuleOfSymbolism.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Joseph "the Elephant Man" Merrick's deformities were blamed within his family on his mother being scared by a circus elephant during pregnancy.
* A documentary on UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin impersonators had one of them say he was supposedly conceived while his mother was looking at a portrait of Lenin.
* In his treatise ''Gynaecology'', Soranus (a 2nd-century Greek physician) says that a tyrant of Cyprus tried to {{Invoke|dTrope}} this trope by making his wife look at beautiful statues when they had sex so that their kids wouldn't be ugly like him.
* The case of Mary Toft was a famous fraud in 1726. While pregnant, she claimed she saw a rabbit, and following that she thought of rabbits frequently. She miscarried, and the baby was a rabbit. This story caught public attention, and under intense scrutiny, she admitted it was a hoax.
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* An UrbanLegend holds that a plantation-master's wife in UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica blamed her giving birth to [[ChocolateBaby an obviously black child]] on the fact that there was a painting of a black man in the study where she frequently spent time. One must give her some points for sheer [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]], despite the [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale implications]].

Historically, it was typically an explanation for the existence of birth defects and congenital disorders. Modern genetic theory has been a TropeBreaker for that. When it crops up in modern works, it will typically be as a DownplayedTrope or ImpliedTrope, such as children taking on characterological traits via RuleOfSymbolism.

This is not merely SharedFamilyQuirks, LikeFatherLikeSon, StrongFamilyResemblance, or even GenerationXerox. These children are not just like their parent(s) ''in general'' -- they are specifically influenced by their parents as they were ''in the context of the child's conception'', or their mother as she was during her pregnancy.

If non-genetic traits are inherited, but ''not'' specifically something related to the circumstances of conception or pregnancy, then it's not this trope: it's LamarckWasRight or GeneticMemory.

Modern medicine generally agrees that things such as illness and drug use during pregnancy ''can'' impact the baby, and so OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby and ChildhoodBrainDamage should not be considered this. Likewise, '''FunctionalMagic impacting a baby in utero is MysticalPregnancy, not this.'''

* ''Literature/DollangangerSeries'': DownplayedTrope. In a quest for revenge against her mother, Cathy seduces her mother's husband and {{Baby Trap}}s him. That's how her son Bart is conceived. It's not until ten years later--when Bart starts to exhibit some of her most vengeful traits--that Cathy thinks maybe that was a bad idea.

-->'''Doctor:''' As for the condition of the child, I have an explanation.
-->'''Louis:''' ''[sarcastically]'' I cannot wait to hear it.
-->'''Doctor:''' As you know, sire, Her Majesty has enjoyed the company of a little blackamoor, Nabo. She liked to play games with him -- peekaboo and so on. As I understand it, sire, shortly after Her Majesty fell pregnant, Nabo hid behind a piece of furniture and jumped out upon her to give her a surprise. And he gave her a look of such force that it served to corrupt the royal womb with darkness.
-->'''Louis:''' ''[sarcastically]'' It must have been a very ''penetrating'' look.

->"Take deformities, for instance. People used to think they were caused by maternal imagination. During the conjugal act, whatever the mother happened to look at or think about would affect the child. There's a story in Damascene about a woman who had a picture of John the Baptist over her bed. Wearing the traditional hair shirt. In the throes of passion, the poor woman happened to glance up at this portrait. Nine months later, her baby was born--furry as a bear!"
-->--'''Dr. Philobosian''', ''{{Literature/Middlesex}}''

* ''Literature/DollangangerSeries'': In a quest for revenge against her mother, Cathy seduces her mother's husband and {{Baby Trap}}s him. That's how her son Bart is conceived. It's not until ten years later--when Bart starts to exhibit some of her most vengeful traits--that Cathy thinks maybe that was a bad idea.

* In ''Literature/MademoiselleDeScuderi'', Cardillac claims that his obsession with jewelry stems from an incident where a nobleman clad in gemstones seduced his pregnant mother and went OutWithABang.

* In ''Literature/TheHampdenshireWonder'', the ChildProdigy Victor is the son of the former cricket player Ginger Stott, whose plan was for Victor to have no exposure to cricket until the age of fourteen so Ginger could train him properly, without any bad playing habits forming in his childhood. The unnamed narrator thinks that Victor's parents' desire for him to have no preconceptions caused him to be born without instincts at all - he had no heartbeat at birth, and had to be taught everything that other infants know instinctively. The narrator thinks it is this lack of instincts that allowed Victor's mind to become so advanced.

* ''{{Series/Versailles}}'': DiscussedTrope. This is suggested as a possible explanation for a ChocolateBaby, although it's such a painfully weak excuse that no characters give the idea any credence.

* ''Literature/TheTalmud'' gives various explanations as to why the first-century sage, Elisha ben Avuya, became a heretic. Among these is that when his mother was pregnant with him, she used to pass by pagan temples and enjoy the scent of their incense.

** "Yankee Doodle Donkey": A donkey disguises himself as a dog to join a canine army troop. When his tall ears accidentally peek out from his helmet, the drill sergeant quips, "Was your mother ever frightened by a mule?".

* ''Literature/TheTalmud'' gives various explanations as to why the first-century sage, Elisha ben Avuya, became a heretic. Among these is that when his mother was pregnant with him, she used to pass by pagan temples and enjoy the scent of their incense.

* An UrbanLegend holds that a plantation-master's wife in UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica blamed her giving birth to [[ChocolateBaby an obviously black child]] on the fact that there was a painting of a black man in the study where she frequently spent time. One must give her some points for sheer [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]], despite the [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale implications]].

* In ''Literature/TheHampdenshireWonder'', the ChildProdigy Victor is the son of the former cricket player Ginger Stott, whose plan was for Victor to have no exposure to cricket until the age of fourteen so Ginger could train him properly, without any bad playing habits forming in his childhood. The UnnamedNarrator thinks that Victor's parents' desire for him to have no preconceptions caused him to be born without instincts at all - he had no heartbeat at birth, and had to be taught everything that other infants know instinctively. The narrator thinks it is this lack of instincts that allowed Victor's mind to become so advanced.

* ''Aethiopica'' (a Greek romance from the 3rd century AD) starts with Queen Persinna of Ethiopia giving birth to a white daughter, despite her and her husband being black. She gives the baby away to avoid accusations of adultery. After many adventures, it is revealed that Persinna had been looking at a painting of Andromeda while she conceived, and so Andromeda's appearance (including white skin) "imprinted" on her child.

[[folder:TV Shows]]

This is not merely SharedFamilyQuirks, LikeFatherLikeSon, StrongFamilyResemblance, or even GenerationXerox. These children are not just like their parent(s) ''in general'' -- are specifically influenced by their parents as they were ''in the context of the child's conception'', or their mother as she was during her pregnancy.

* An UrbanLegend holds that a plantation-master's wife in UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica blamed her giving birth to [[ChocolateBaby an obviously black child]] on the fact that there was a painting of a black man in the study where she frequently spent time. One must give her some points for sheer [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]], despite [[YourCheatingHeart the]] [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale implications]].

If non-genetic traits are inherited, but ''not'' specifically something related to the circumstances of contraception or pregnancy, then it's not this trope: it's LamarckWasRight or GeneticMemory.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/PorkyInWackyland": A three-headed creature looks at the audience and says something in gibberish, which another creature translates as "His mother was scared by a pawnbroker's sign." A pawnbroker's sign traditionally consists of an image of three balls, the idea being that because his mother was frightened by an image of three balls he was therefore born with three heads.

* An UrbanLegend holds that a plantation-master's wife in UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica blamed her giving birth to [[ChocolateBaby an obviously black child]] on the fact that there was a painting of a black man in the study where she frequently spent time. One must give her some points for sheer [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]], despite [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale the implications]].

* An UrbanLegend holds that a plantation-master's wife in AntebellumAmerica blamed her giving birth to [[ChocolateBaby an obviously black child]] on the fact that there was a painting of a black man in the study where she frequently spent time. One must give her some points for sheer [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]], despite [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale the implications]].

* The case of Mary Toft was a famous fraud in 1726. While pregnant, she claimed she saw a rabbit, and following that she thought of rabbits frequently. She mismarried, and the baby was a rabbit. This story caught public attention, and under intense scrutiny, she admitted it was a hoax.

In the real world, ''maternal impression'' is a discredited medical theory which held that emotional stimulus experienced by a pregnant woman could influence the development of her baby. This theory is known to go back at least as far as UsefulNotes/AncientGreece, making it OlderThanFeudalism, and was was popular until the rise of modern genetic theory.

This is not merely SharedFamilyQuirks, LikeFatherLikeSon, StrongFamilyResemblance, or even GenerationXerox. These children are not just like their parent(s) ''in general''--are specifically influenced by their parents as they were ''in the context of the child's conception'', or their mother as she was during her pregnancy.

* ''Aethiopica'' (a Greek romance from the 3rd century AD) starts with Queen Persinna of Ethiopia giving birth to a white daughter, despite she and her husband being black. She gives the baby away to avoid accusations of adultery. After many adventures, it is revealed that Persinna had been looking at a painting of Andromeda while she conceived, and so Andromeda's appearance (including white skin) "imprinted" on her child.

* ''Literature/{{Middlesex}}'': After returning home from a sexualized production of the play ''The Minotaur'', and Desdemona and Lefty have sex, as do Lina and Zizmo. Desdemona--who is actually HappilyMarried, but also quite old-school and doesn't feel comfortable admitting the play turned her on--pretends to be asleep. Both pairs conceive a child that night. These circumstances of their conception are not particularly imprinted on either of the two babies. But this book is a GenerationalSaga, and years later, when those two babies grow up, marry each other, and have a child of their own, ''that kid'' sees reflections of himself in his parents' conception.

-->'''Doctor:''' As you know, sire, Her Majesty has enjoyed the company of a little blackamoor, Nabo. She liked to play games with him--peekaboo and so on. As I understand it, sire, shortly after Her Majesty fell pregnant, Nabo hid behind a piece of furniture and jumped out upon her to give her a surprise. And he gave her a look of such force that it served to corrupt the royal womb with darkness.

* In his treatise ''Gynaecology'', Soranus (a 2nd century Greek physician) says that a tyrant of Cyprus tried to {{Invoke|dTrope}} this trope by making his wife look at beautiful statues when they had sex, so that their kids wouldn't be ugly like him.

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/PorkyInWackyland": A three-headed creature looks at the audience and says something in gibberish, which another creature translates as "His mother was scared by a pawnbroker's sign."

->''Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous.''
-->-- ''Literature/AStormOfSwords''

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[[AC:Western Animation]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

* The case of Mary Toft was a famous fraud in 1726. While pregnant, she claimed she saw a rabbit, and following that she thought of rabbits frequently. She mismarried, and the baby was a rabbit. This story caught public attention, and under intense scrutiny, she admitted it was a hoax.