Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Fertility Statues get Credit for another Conception
Oh Baby! New Jersey woman latest to share success story as statues continue their U.S. tour
Atlantic City, N.J. – (June 23, 2010) – A New Jersey woman is the latest to join more than 2,000 women worldwide who say Ripley’s Believe It or Not! fertility statues helped them get pregnant.
Rachel and Jon Taylor, stationed at Fort Dix Army base, had been trying to start a family for about three years but had no luck in getting pregnant. Fertility specialists told Rachel there was no way she would conceive on her own.
The couple was running low on hope when Rachel’s mother read a news story about the Ripley’s fertility statues on the internet.
The five-foot tall wooden statues were acquired from the Ivory Coast of West Africa in 1993 and placed in the lobby of Ripley Entertainment’s corporate headquarters in Orlando. Within months, 13 women, including staffers and office visitors, were pregnant. The statues were put on public display around the country and the number of people who say the statues helped them get pregnant has grown to more than 2,000.
Rachel and her mother made a special trip to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Wisconsin Dells while the statues were there for a month during their international tour.
“I was desperate and willing to try anything to get pregnant,” said Taylor. She and her mother rubbed the statues, spent a couple hours shopping and then got on a plane back to New Jersey.
BBEFORE – Rubbing the statues in Wisconsin
In November, Rachel found out she was pregnant – just weeks from before turning to in vitro fertilization treatments. She gives credit to the statues. “I can’t come up with any other explanation,” she says.
Neither can her doctors. To this day, Rachel says they have never figured out why she became pregnant.
She’s due to give birth in August to a baby boy named Maxwell.
Would she call on the statues for help getting pregnant again? “I would,” says Taylor. “But I’ll have to convince my husband first!”
She and her mom paid the statues a visit during their current stop at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Atlantic City and shared her success story with others calling on the statues for some good conceptual karma. AFTER – Mom and baby-to-be visit the statues in Atlantic City
The statues will be on display at Ripley’s Atlantic City through June 29th.
Their next stop will be Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Ocean City from July 2 to July 27.
As always, the statues are on display in the lobby of the Ripley’s museums and can be seen – and touched – for free.
For more information, including the statues’ tour schedule, high resolution images and video, please visit www.ripleysnewsroom.com.
To set up an interview with Rachel Taylor, contact Tim O’Brien at obrien@ripleys.com.
About Ripley Entertainment Inc.
Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment, entertaining more than 13 million annually at its 80 attractions in 11 countries. In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.
Contacts:
Chris Connelly Tim O’Brien
GM, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Atlantic City VP Communications
Office – (609) 347-2001 Ripley Entertainment Inc.
ripacac@aol.com Office – 615-646-7465
Cell – 615-496-5949