Live Action’s ‘Baby Olivia’ fetal development video is medically accurate despite media claims

Live Action’s Baby Olivia video, a medically accurate, animated glimpse of human life from the moment of fertilization, has come under fire from local media sources as pro-life legislators draft state bills to ensure accurate fetal development is taught in schools.

Live Action created Baby Olivia with a panel of medical professionals, including experts in embryonic and fetal development, who also endorsed the project — Dr. David Bolender; Dr. Donna Harrison; Dr. Tara Sander Lee; Dr. Katrina Furth; Michelle Cretella, MD; and Jeffrey Barrows, DO, MA. Much of the information in the video was gleaned directly from the Endowment for Human Development, which describes itself as “a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health science education and public health.” EHD is “​​committed to neutrality regarding all controversial bioethical issues and states that its “board of directors, board of advisors, staff, and volunteers includes accomplished educators, researchers, authors, programmers, and clinicians from a variety of scientific and business disciplines who share the common goal of improving lifelong health through prenatal development-based education.” U.S. science educators have endorsed the organization’s award-winning content, which National Geographic also distributes.

It should be noted that all gestational markers utilized in the Baby Olivia video are calculated relative to fertilization (also called “conception”), not to the last menstrual period (LMP) — known as gestational age — which is often used elsewhere and which adds approximately two weeks.

In Kentucky, House Bill 346 would require that beginning in middle school, public schools incorporate into the curriculum a human development video within the parameters that Olivia meets. In addition, Iowa House File 2031 would require the video to be shown in health classes from first grade through high school. In North Dakota, House Bill 1265, which requires that schools incorporate a human development video within the same parameters of the Olivia video into the classroom, was signed into law last year by Governor Doug Burgum.

Though the Baby Olivia video uses medically accurate, research-backed information, media outlets are attempting to delegitimize it.

A Never Before Seen Look At Human Life In The Womb | Baby Olivia

Life begins at fertilization

Baby Olivia states the scientific fact that a new human life begins at the moment of fertilization. However, according to the Des Moines Register, “Connie Ryan, the executive director of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, said the bill mandates ‘misinformation and religious ideology’ in schools.”

“House File 2031 is nothing but a political and religious agenda — forced indoctrination of Iowa’s children and youth,” she claimed. “You have every right to your religious beliefs and to teach your children whatever you like. You do not have the right to force your religious ideology onto all Iowa children and families, taking away choice for all other parents in Iowa.”

The Lexington Herald Leader likewise claimed this scientific fact to be nothing more than the “Christian worldview” of when life begins.

This is untrue. As the Endowment for Human Development (EHD) states, “Biologically speaking, fertilization (or conception) is the beginning of human development.” A unique human organism comes into being at this point.

In addition, in its January 2010 issue, the journal Nature stated, “The life cycle of mammals begins when a sperm enters an egg.” The textbook Patten’s Foundations of Embryology (6th ed., p. 3) likewise states: “The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual.”

Numerous medical documents state that life begins at fertilization.

Yet, the Des Moines Register reported, “The computer-generated ‘Meet Baby Olivia’ video shows sperm swimming to an egg as the video’s narrator says, “this is the moment that life begins. A new human being has come into existence.”

The Register claimed, “Not all fertilized eggs successfully implant in the uterus to result in a successful pregnancy.” While it’s true that not all embryos will implant or even survive to full term, that doesn’t negate the fact that a new human organism begins at fertilization. The length of that life doesn’t nullify the existence of that life.

EHD states, “The zygote… contains 46 unique chromosomes with the entire genetic blueprint of a new individual.” And WebMD also states, “At the moment of fertilization, the baby’s genetic makeup is complete, including whether it’s a boy or girl.”

In addition, EHD states, “Implantation is the process whereby the early embryo embeds into the inner wall of the mother’s uterus. Implantation begins about 6 days after fertilization and is complete by about 12 days.”

The heart begins to beat approximately three weeks post-fertilization

The Lexington Herald Leader claimed that “while the heart begins to form during the third week of pregnancy, describing this early fetal cardiac activity as a ‘heartbeat’ — which typically begins around the sixth week of pregnancy, not the third — is misleading, even inaccurate.” It continued, “According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “It is clinically inaccurate to use the word ‘heartbeat’ to describe the sound that can be heard on ultrasound in very early pregnancy.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is a pro-abortion group, which today denies the fact of when the heart first begins to beat, though even less than a decade ago, ACOG sang a different tune. ACOG long referred to this embryonic cardiac activity as “heart activity” and as a “heartbeat.”

The Des Moines Register claims, “Doctors say in most cases cardiac activity cannot be detected in an embryo until about six weeks gestation, and it is inaccurate to call the electrical impulses generated by the embryo’s cells a heartbeat at that stage of the pregnancy because the embryo does not yet have a heart.” Six weeks gestation is four weeks post-fertilization. 

Let’s do the math: from fertilization to the end of the first week = 7 days, plus the second week = 14 days, plus the third week = 21 days, and then we’ve arrived at the beginning of the fourth week past fertilization on day 22.

Take a look at this video from EHD, which shows the clear activity of the embryo’s heart (which has yet to develop all four chambers, but is a heart nonetheless) pumping blood at 4.5 weeks post-fertilization:

The Beating Heart in Slow Motion: 4 1/2 Weeks Pregnant

A tremendous amount of research shows that the heart begins to beat as early as 22 days after fertilization. EHD explains, “About 3 weeks, one day after fertilization … the heart first begins to beat[.]”

Likewise, Merck Manuals states, “The heart and major blood vessels begin to develop earlier—by about day 16. The heart begins to pump fluid through blood vessels by day 20, and the first red blood cells appear the next day.”

In addition, in a 2020 study published in the journal Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, Oxford-affiliated researchers Cheryl Mei Jun Tan and Adam James Lewandowski wrote, “By the end of gestational week 3, passive oxygen diffusion becomes insufficient to support metabolism of the developing embryo, and thus the fetal heart becomes vital for oxygen and nutrient distribution. The initiation of the first heart beat via the primitive heart tube begins at gestational day 22, followed by active fetal blood circulation by the end of week 4.”

Dr. Mobeen Syed notes in a video that heart formation from the “third week to fifth week is really important.” He states:

[The] heart is the very first organ that starts developing and it is the first organ that reaches a functional state. Can you imagine that the heart reaches a functional state even before its own development completes? When the heart is in the form of a tube, even then it is pulsating and it is beating and it is pumping blood.

The reason for that is that until the second week of the development, the embryo can receive the oxygenation and nutrition through diffusion and it can rid of the waste products in the same process. However, after the second week of development, [it] is big enough that the embryo cannot now just survive using the diffusion mechanism. So it does need some sort of a vascular system and it does need some sort of circulation and so [the] heart has to be developed.

At 21-22 days, the embryo has a beating heart. If it didn’t, the embryo would not continue to grow.

Further development of a new human life in first trimester

Once the heart is pumping blood — beating — the new human life can continue to develop.

Arm and leg buds

The Baby Olivia video says, “The buds of her arms and legs appear by 4 weeks.” EHD states, “Upper and lower limb buds appear by four weeks” — which even Planned Parenthood agrees with. 

According to the Iowa Standard, Angela Caulk with the Family Planning Council of Iowa claimed the video is “full of medically inaccurate information,” including the assertion that arm and leg buds appear at four weeks. The Standard said Caulk noted Mount Sinai Hospital “claims it happens between 6-7 weeks.” If Mount Sinai Hospital is listing this developmental milestone in terms of gestational age, six weeks gestation is the same as four weeks post-fertilization. In other words, there is likely no conflict here — Caulk may simply be conflating gestational age with post-fertilization age.

Embryonic stage

Caulk additionally claimed that “The embryonic stage also finishes at the 10th week rather than the ninth as stated in the video” — but according to Mayo Clinic, “At the beginning of the 11th week of pregnancy, or the ninth week after conception [fertilization]… Your baby is now officially described as a fetus.” And according to Merck Manual, “end of the 8th week after fertilization (10 weeks of pregnancy), the embryo is considered a fetus.” And here, once again, Caulk appears to be conflating gestational and post-fertilization age. There is no conflict: the embyonic stage finishes at the end of the 8th week/beginning of 9th week post-fertilization.

“At the beginning of the 9th week, Olivia will have grown from a single cell into nearly 1 billion cells, and she is now called a fetus. She will suck her thumb and swallow, grasps an object, touch her face, sigh, and stretch,” says the video.

As EHD explains, “8 weeks marks the end of the embryonic period. During this time, the human embryo has grown from a single cell into nearly 1 billion cells[.]”

Embryonic movement

Caulk also took issue with the fact that “The video also states the baby begins to move between 5-6 weeks, but Mount Sinai Hospital claims it moves at 15-20 weeks.” Perhaps Caulk is referring to the mother’s ability to feel the preborn child’s movements, also known as “quickening,” which occurs later in gestation.

However, as for the embryo’s movements, they are present long before they are felt by the mother. Baby Olivia states, “She begins to move between 5 and 6 weeks, with both spontaneous and reflexive movements.”

Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology published a 2021 study which supports this developmental marker. It states, “The embryo starts moving by 7.5 week’s gestation [5.5 weeks post-fertilization].” In addition, a 2018 study noted: “Initiated by stochastic bursts in the spinal cord and brainstem networks, the first noticeable movements occur after the 6th week of gestation [after 4 weeks post-fertilization] age. At 7 − 7½ weeks of gestation [5 – 5.5 weeks post-fertilization], sideways bending of the head or of the rump can be observed with ultrasound recording.”

The Baby Olivia video goes on to say, “She can bring her hands together at 7 ½ weeks [post-fertilization]. Separate fingers and toes emerge. She can also begin to hiccup.” See video below from EHD:

7 Weeks Pregnant -- Hiccups & Startle Response

EHD reports that by seven and half weeks “the hands can be brought together.” On another page, EHD states: “By 9 weeks thumb sucking begins and the fetus may swallow amniotic fluid. The fetus can also grasp an object, move the head forward and back, open and close the jaw, move the tongue, sigh, and stretch.”

According to the aforementioned study published in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, “a number of movement patterns including general movements, isolated limb and head movements, hiccup, and breathing movements, appear” at 9.5-10.5 weeks’ gestation (or 7.5-8.5 weeks post-fertilization).

See the fetal hands brought together below:

Eyes and Hands: 7 1/2 Weeks Pregnant

News Medical notes, “At 9 weeks yawns and stretches are visible on ultrasound.” Planned Parenthood agrees, saying, “The embryo develops into a fetus after 10 weeks” LMP (or 8 weeks post-fertilization). 

The Baby Olivia goes on to say, “At 11 weeks, she is playing in the womb, moving her body and exploring her environment.” EHD supports this, stating that, by week 8, “Slowly or rapidly, singularly or repetitively, spontaneously or reflexively, the embryo continues to practice the movements begun earlier and to move in new ways.” 

Brain activity 

Baby Olivia also says, “At 6 weeks from fertilization, her brain activity can be recorded, and bone formation begins.” EHD reserach supports this, saying, “The embryo has brainwaves by 6 weeks, 2 days! … Individualized brainwaves recorded via electroencephalogram, or EEG, have been reported as early as 6 weeks, 2 days. … Bone formation begins between 6 and 7 weeks, starting with the clavicle, or collar bone, and the upper and lower jaw.”

Taste buds

The video additionally says this about the last portion of the first trimester and beginning of the second trimester: “[Baby Olivia’s] taste bud cells have matured by week 12, but are still scattered throughout her mouth.” Psychological Science backs this up, reporting that “[i]n human fetuses, taste buds develop anatomically at 8 weeks’ gestation [6 weeks post-fertilization] and can detect tastants from 14 weeks’ gestation [12 weeks post-fertilization].”

Continuing to grow in the second trimester

Baby Olivia states that “[h]er mother will first sense Olivia’s movement between 14 and 18 weeks — an event called quickening.” EHD research says, “[A] pregnant woman first senses fetal movement between 14 and 18 weeks. Traditionally, this event has been called quickening.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ book Your Pregnancy and Childbirth (7th ed., p.96) also supports this saying, “Some women, especially those who have had a baby before, feel quickening as early as 16 weeks of pregnancy.”

“Beginning at 18 weeks,” says the video, “ultrasounds show speaking movement in her voice box.” EHD also supports this, saying, “Beginning at 18 weeks, ultrasound scans show a distinct type of motion in the fetal voice box, or larynx, similar to movements made during speaking.”

Additionally, the Baby Olivia video says, “Around 20 weeks, with a lot of help, babies have survived outside the womb.” More and more children born as young as 21 weeks are now able to survive and thrive. The Washington Post shares the story of Richard Hutchinson, whose mother was “21 weeks and two days pregnant” using the LMP method of gestational calculation (equivalent to just over 19 weeks post-fertilization) when she gave birth to him. He weighed just one pound at birth, but was eventually discharged from the hospital in time for Christmas.

Baby Curtis Means was born at 21 weeks and 1 day (19 weeks and 1 day post-fertilization) and currently holds the record for the youngest preemie to survive outside the womb.

Development in the third trimester

“At 27 weeks, [Baby Olivia’s] eyes are responding to light. She can recognize her parents’ voices, and will even recognize lullabies and stories,” says the video.

Mayo Clinic states, “By the end of the 25th week of pregnancy — 23 weeks after conception — your baby might be able to respond to your voice with movement.” 

Likewise EHD explains, “The pupils dilate and constrict in response to light as early as 27 weeks.” It also notes, “The fetus hears numerous sounds before birth, with the mother’s voice and heartbeat dominating other sounds. Studies show that after months of listening to the mother’s voice, the newborn prefers her voice to any other. The newborn also prefers female voices to male voices and familiar lullabies heard before birth to new lullabies after birth. Newborns can distinguish prose passages heard during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy from new passages, providing additional evidence of in utero memory formation and learning.”

And finally, the Baby Olivia video states, “Olivia has gone on an amazing journey during these last 9 monhts. She will soon signal to her mother that it is time for delivery.”

EHD explains: “The fetus initiates labor resulting in the transition from fetus to newborn.” 

Live Action’s Baby Olivia is backed by multiple scientific sources spanning decades of research. Life begins at the moment of fertilization and each human continues to grow, develop, and change from that point forward through the course of their lives.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks goes to Live Action researchers Bettina diFiore and Carole Novielli.

Update 2/5/24: This article was updated with more accurate information on the state bills. 

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