Does anyone remember a past life

Jim Tucker with Ryan Hammons and his mother. Read about this interesting case in Dr. Some young children, usually between the ages of 2 and 5, speak about memories of a previous life they claim to have lived.

At the same time they often show behaviors, such as phobias or preferences, that are unusual within the context of their particular family and cannot be explained by any current life events. Some of the children have birthmarks and birth defects that correspond to wounds or other marks on the deceased person whose life is being remembered by the child.

In numerous cases, postmortem reports have confirmed these correspondences. Older children may retain these apparent memories, but generally they seem to fade around the age of seven.

The young subjects of these cases have been found all over the world including Europe and North America. For the past 20 years, Dr. Jim Tucker, now the director of the Division of Perceptual Studies, has focused mainly on cases found in the United States.

His book Return to Life offers accounts of very strong American cases of young children who remember previous lives. In this book, Dr. Tucker writes about the now well-known cases of James Leininger , a young boy who had verifiable past-life memories of being a WWII pilot, and Ryan Hammons , who had verifiable memories of being a Hollywood extra and talent agent.

Nor do the cases resemble in their form fantasies of imaginary playmates. Some American cases of this type occur in families already believing in reincarnation, but many others do not. In these families the child's statements about a previous life are often puzzling and even alarming to his or her parents. The child is sometimes involved in conflict over the apparent memories with members of his or her family.

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