The “baby boxes” are multiplying

“Baby boxes” allowing women in difficulty to abandon their newborn babies in the most complete anonymity are multiplying in the United States.

Marc Thibodeau
The Press

Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Alabama notably have boxes of this nature, which are set up in fire stations or health establishments.

When a baby is dropped off from outside, an alarm sounds, allowing the staff present in the establishment to take charge of it quickly, while giving the mother time to leave without being seen.

Indiana resident Monica Kelsey is a leading proponent of this approach.

Her organization, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, has installed about 100 baby boxes in seven states since 2016 and plans to cover four more states by the end of the year, she said in an interview.

The first idea, note M^me Kelsey, is to ensure that no baby is abandoned in unsafe conditions by a mother who fears coming to a facility to deliver her child.

Fear of being stigmatized

Most US states have laws that allow this type of transfer without criminal charges, but they normally provide for the delivery of the child to be done in person.

The fear of being recognized in a small town or of being stigmatized can in particular be a hindrance for a mother in difficulty, notes Ms.^me Kelsey.

“If women don’t want to come in person, you can’t just bang your fist on the table and say it has to be like that,” she says, recounting the case of a mother who went through two States to be able to use one of the boxes of the organization without fear of being recognized.

In five years, about twenty children have been deposited in the organization’s boxes before being taken in charge by local social services officials with a view to adoption.

Abortion

Interest in anonymous newborn surrenders received unexpected support last summer from the Supreme Court in the judgment overturning the Roe v. wade.

Judge Samuel Alito said it was one of the “modern developments” potentially limiting the need for abortion rights.

M^me Kelsey, who is opposed to this type of interpretation, says she was surprised by this passage of the judgment.

The use of baby boxes is no less appalling for Maria Laurino, a New York writer who sees it as a “horror” of medieval origin.

The author, who is about to publish a book on the treatment of single mothers in 1950s and 1960s Italy, notes that this phenomenon is reminiscent of road (drop towers), swinging boxes that allowed anonymous drop-off of a newborn and which have endured for hundreds of years with the consent of the Catholic Church.

It’s “shocking” to imagine that it could come to be seen as an “acceptable” scenario that American women today use a similar system, notes Ms.^me Laurino.

The use of baby boxes also promotes anonymous adoptions which prevent children from ultimately reconnecting with their biological parents and guarantee “years of unnecessary suffering”, she adds.

In an email sent to The Pressthe National Council for Adoption says it’s best that prospective parents receive detailed adoption information before term so they can make an “informed decision.”

In Canada

A few baby boxes of this nature exist in Canada, mainly in the western part of the country.

One was set up at St. Paul’s Hospital, a faith-based facility in Vancouver. Shaf Hussain, a spokesman for the facility, said two babies have been taken in there in 15 years.

This small number should not be seen as a sign that the initiative is useless, says Hussain.

MNA and historian Christine Labrie, who has studied the reasons that prompted Quebec women to give their children up for adoption in the decades following the Second World War, points out that such boxes were never used in Quebec.

The elected sees the use of this practice in the United States as a “worrying” sign.

Such a scenario testifies to “unimaginable distress” and should never occur, notes Maria Laurino.

Monica Kelsey repeats for her part that she simply wants to make sure that no baby is abandoned in dangerous situations.

“Our goal is to allow young mothers to do what they believe is best for their child, without judgement,” she says.