FACT CHECK: No, This Sculpture Was Not Made By A Father Whose Wife And Unborn Child Were Killed By A Drunk Driver

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a sculpture of a fetus that was created by a man whose pregnant wife and unborn child were killed by a drunk driver.

Verdict: False

The artist responsible for the work refuted this rumor.

Fact Check:

The image shows what appears to be a sculpture of a fetus carved into the side of a roadside hill. “Roadside sculpture carved by a father who lost his wife and unborn child to a drunk driver,” reads text included in the image. “This is incredible.” (RELATED: Does This Image Show Alysia Montano Winning The 800 Meter Race While 5 Months Pregnant?)

The text, however, misstates the circumstances of the sculpture’s construction. The sculpture was the subject of a 2016 OK! Magazine article that explained the work is called “Pregnant Mountain” and was created by artist Dubian Monsalve in 2012 near the town of Santo Domingo in Colombia. The article mentions nothing about him losing his wife and unborn child to a drunk driving accident.

Monsalve confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact that he created the work in 2012 and said the story of it being inspired by a tragic drunk driving accident is false. Rather, he explained the work honors the area’s farmers, who suffered violence in the 1990s.

“This work is in memory of those who were stripped of their land and their lives, it is also a tribute to the resilience of the people who returned to the field, who returned to sow with some hope, and returned to inhabit their houses and their land,” reads a translated version of Monsalve’s email. “It is a tribute to being born again!”

He also told a Catholic news outlet in 2015 that the sculpture represents his belief that “life has value from conception to its end,” according to BuzzFeed News. Similar works can be found in some of Monsalve’s Instagram posts.

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