Moon Landing

The tragic and sporadic event that took place in the 50’s known as ‘Children of Thalidomide’, was a strong awakening in its era.

In the 1960s the drug thalidomide was used by a plethora of pregnant women in Europe and Canada to treat morning sickness. Women who had taken the drug in early pregnancy gave birth to children with severe birth defects such as missing or shortened limbs. More than 10,000 children around the world were born with major deformities, many missing arms and legs, because their mothers had taken the drug during early pregnancy. Mothers who had taken the drug when arms and legs were beginning to form had babies with a widely and vary range but recognizable pattern of limb deformities.

The most well-known pattern, absence of most of the arm with the hands extending flipper-like from the shoulders, was called phocomelia. Another constant arm deformity called radial aplasia was absence of the thumb and the adjoining bone in the lower arm. Similar limb malformations occurred in the lower extremities. The babies that been affected pretty much always had both sides a...