Maybe they take all of our placentas when we are born and make elf/troll versions of us to live underground in their custody to be used along lines we haven't come to grips with.
After all, Admiralty Law has us all presumed dead and place in ward of the state/in TRUST, and dealt with as beneficiaries of that LEGAL TRUST to be administered by them.
What all does that entail? I think it's largely based upon our parents "abandoning" us (afterbirth/placenta) in the hospital at birth and signing away our birth/berth certificates to be held by them.