Everything You Would Ever Wanted to Know About Ripley’s Fertility Statues!

Background

In 1993 Ripley Entertainment acquired two African fertility statues, little knowing that they would become the all-time most popular Ripley museum exhibit. Initially they stood like sentinels in the Orlando world headquarters, an interesting conversation piece for sure, but nothing more. Then, unexplainably there seemed to be a population explosion going on in the Ripley office. First it was the receptionist, the woman who sat nearest them who became pregnant, then others who either by fault or desire touched the statues, found themselves in a maternal way.  Thirteen months later when the Wall Street Journal ran an article about the Ripley birth phenomena – 13 pregnancies in 13 months – suddenly the statues were national news.

Where have they been?

From 1996 through 2000, the statues were sent to every Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum in the world, sometimes more than once. Millions visited the statues FREE OF CHARGE, touched them and prayed for fertility. Wherever they traveled, hopeful women touched and rubbed them in the hopes that they would become pregnant. In 2001, they returned to the Orlando corporate office where they were put on display in a private room where hundreds visited them each year. The went back out on tour, by demand, in August 2008 in New York City and have since been across the country to select Believe It or Not! Museums and to Ripley museums in London and Blackpool, England. They returned to the U.S. and started the latest leg of their tour at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in St. Augustine, Fla. in January 2010.

What is a Fertility Statue?

They are carved wooden statues used for ceremonial purposes. They are used in rituals and are considered a fertility omen. According to African tribal legend, to assure a couple’s fertility the statues are to be placed on either side of a doorway leading into a bed room chamber. If a woman (or her spouse) touches either of the statues as they enter the room, they (or their significant other as the case may be) will soon get pregnant.

What is the origin of Ripley’s Fertility Statues?

In 1993, Ripley’s acquired them, not knowing how popular they would become. The Baule people of the West African nation of Cote D’Ivoire (The Ivory Coast) hand carved the statues with primitive tools, from heavy durable ebony wood sometime during the 1930s.

What do they look like?

The male and female statues, a matched pair, stand five feet tall and weigh more than 70 pounds each. The man, a king, holds a short sword in one hand and a mango, a common African symbol of fertility, in the other. The woman, his wife and queen, is holding a newborn infant.

Where do you touch them?

The African legend does not specify where one should touch the states to assure fertility, and for many women it does not seem to matter. Most women, however, concentrate their efforts on the queen’s baby.

Does it cost to visit or touch them?

Ripley has never charged and never plans to charge anyone to visit the statues.

Does Ripley really believe these statues work?

The statues have no known powers and we at Ripley’s cannot endorse them as an answer for pregnancy. We cannot guarantee that by touching them you will become pregnant, and in fact we recommend that you not depend on them and that you research and discuss with your doctor all other proven methods of fertility.

But so many women have become pregnant, they must work.

It is true more than 2,000 women that we know of have become pregnant after touching the statues, but how and why is a mystery wrapped in faith and coincidence, not science.

Why are they on tour if Ripley’s themselves don’t believe in them?

Demand. For the six years the statues were “off the road” and in the Orlando corporate headquarters, we received dozens of calls each week wanting to know where the statues were and how a person could go about visiting them. They are the most popular exhibit in the 90-year history of Ripley and we thought it was time to present them to the masses again. And while Ripley cannot endorse or guarantee success and admits there is no known power, the statues have obviously worked for more than 2,000 women.  Faith is a wonderful thing.

Why can’t you give us more names and photos of “success” stories?

Fertility and pregnancy is very private and personal for most and most don’t want their names released, for various reasons. The ladies we are offering up to the media have approved us using their names.