The public acceptance and media attention paid to neonatal remembrance photography speaks to a change in what Philippe Aries describes as “the prohibition of mourning and the right to weep for one’s dead.” [7] No longer, it seems, are we “supposed to act as if nothing had happened so that everyone else could act the same way, and social life could continue without being interrupted, even for a single moment, by death.” [8]

By comparison, and somewhat surprisingly for the usual rhetoric on the internet, the comments in most of these articles are respectful. Readers weigh in about their own stillbirths or problematic births, support fellow parents in their grief, and laud photographers for volunteering this much-needed service. Commentors praise these volunteers for doing what is inherently emotionally difficult work, and seem genuinely touched by both the photos and the intent behind them. A common theme is "I couldn't do this but I'm glad someone does." [9] There are few negative comments, and the negative ones tend less to discuss the photos themselves, but more what the commentors see as the "commercialization" of these photos. One commentor says "It's valuable for certain. But now it's a blog post. Looking for hits. You should have kept it to yourselves if it mattered to you. Now it's just sick advertising. I hope you got a lot of exposure." [10] The issues that readers seem to have are not with the existence of post-mortem photography as a practice, but with the potential exploitation they perceive of these families grief process and the public nature of a blog post featuring what some consider immensely private documentation.

By publicly sharing their experience and their treasured family photographs, these parents are normalizing the experience of infant death and encouraging open and healing conversations about loss and memorializing a dead child. The fact that so many major news outlets are reporting on neo-natal remembrance photography and the organizations that provide this service normalizes death even further, and encourages conversations both online and offline about how we as Americans deal with death.