Birthmarks and birth defects in the head and neck region and claims of past-life memories: Cases in Ian Stevenson's Reincarnation and Biology

Abstract

In his massive two-volume monograph Reincarnation and Biology, Ian Stevenson included 75 cases with birthmarks and birth defects affecting the head and neck region of the human body. The present paper provides details of these 75 cases and compares them to 19 similar cases Laura Borges Kirschnick and colleagues found in a systematic review of journal publications. The reports in Stevenson's book are shown to be considerably longer (with a mean of 9 pages vs. 2.1 pages) and more detailed than those considered by Kirschnick et al. Moreover, the cases reported in journals were found not to be representative of those reported in Reincarnation and Biology on several variables. Reincarnation research is unusual among scientific disciplines in its use of book publications and Stevenson's books remain essential resources for the field. Literature reviews in this domain would therefore do well to take into account scholarly books as well as journals. A trustworthiness scale for reincarnation case studies is proposed as an assist to researchers in the construction of study samples.

Keywords: Birthmarks and birth defects; Congenital physical anomalies; Head and neck; Past-life memory; Reincarnation.