That’s a shame, though I always wonder when babies’ remains are found like that if there was a pregnancy that would have been scandalous (incest or such). I doubt there’d be 17 though; that’s a shame. I would have thought women back then would be more reluctant to do that, and I would have thought there would be more resources for abandoned babies.
My wife was told to have testing done on one of our children, and she refused (there was a risk to the baby inside); the doctors were furious, but she made clear that abortion wasn’t an option regardless of any testing. We both aged a lot waiting for the baby, and everything was fine (thank God).
Remember, this was during the depression in the middle west, farm income was severely depressed people were often very hungry. Have you read The Grapes of Wrath or seen the photos by Dorothea Lang and others?