ABSTRACT
The foetus is a stranger to the mother's body, yet there are mechanisms in the mother's biological immune system that prevent the rejection of the foetus from the mother's womb during the course of the pregnancy. This immunological process raises an interesting question: is it narcissism as an emotional immune system that causes us, as parents, to rave about our children as "the most wonderful on the face of the earth". The newborn comes into life equipped with his or her innate hereditary, genetic makeup, and history of physiological sensations rooted in various intrauterine sensory experiences. The narcissistic immunologic memory constitutes a mediating factor between current sensory experience and the memory traces from one's past experiences that are indelibly imprinted in the narcissistic network. Normal narcissistic processing allows babies, as well as adults, to be curious about other people who are "almost-familiar", to befriend them, and to identify the familiar hidden within the strange.
