Posted on 06/21/2024 1:47:10 PM PDT by Morgana
The Safe Haven Baby Box organization is celebrating the life of a baby who was safely surrendered at the Montgomery County Fire Safe Haven Baby Box in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. The surrender marks the 50th in one of the organization’s baby boxes since the first one was installed in 2015 and the first since this particular baby box was installed on April 4. The Kentucky Safe Infants Act allows parents to leave newborn infants younger than 30 days old at a staffed police station, fire station, hospital, or participating place of worship without fear of criminal prosecution or allegation of neglect. Safe Haven Baby Boxes are safe, temperature-controlled boxes installed in hospitals or fire stations throughout the country; to date, they are available in 17 states. When a child is placed inside, a silent alarm is triggered and emergency personnel respond within minutes. The baby is given medical care and later placed for adoption.
“Monday afternoon we were honored and blessed to have a baby surrendered at our Fire Station in Montgomery County, KY. The baby boy was surrendered and appeared to be in good health and was transported to our local hospital,” Montgomery County Fire Captain Zachary Adams stated in a press release. “We want to thank Gateway Right to Life for making this possible and Montgomery County Kiwanis for 100% funding of this project! There aren’t words to express how happy we are to be part of this opportunity!”
He added, “Words cannot describe it. We weren’t expecting this. I truthfully thought the box would never be used.”
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are designed to help parents in crisis surrender their children anonymously if they so choose, according to their state’s safe haven laws. The organization’s founder, Monica Kelsey, notes that these boxes are a “last resort” option for mothers and offer an alternative to infant abandonment.
“Thank you for keeping your child safe, for entrusting the Montgomery County Fire Department to take it from here,” Kelsey addressed the mother during a press conference. “Your baby is healthy, your baby is safe.” She also invited the mother to call her organization if she is in need of help, resources, or just someone to talk to.
In her press release, Kelsey reiterated her thanks and noted that the baby would soon be placed for adoption. According to WKYT, the parent of the baby has 30 days to reverse his or her decision to surrender the child.
“Our program offers hope to mothers in crisis. We are so grateful this mother trusted us to protect her infant as well as her identity. It is a selfless act and we are proud of the birth mother,” she said.
Thank you Jesus!
How can they be adopted? Meaning—where to contact and the process.
The surrendered children are fortunate to have birth mothers who did not abort them and made sure they were safe when forced to give them up for adoption.
Baby Moses laws are a good start, but unless abortion ban states agree to foot maternity costs ($5K & up) for unwanted infants, many will travel out of state ($1K & under) to abortion clinics.
As an adoptive mom of four....it was a moving story!
amen Liz! AMEN!
Four adoptions......God love you.
Amen 🙏🏻!
The alternative to these ‘baby boxes”?
Alaska has Safe Haven laws (https://safehavenlaws.uslegal.com/alaska-safe-haven-law-relating-to-abandoned-newborn/) but no anonymous drop points I am aware of.
THE BABY LIVES, THE MOTHER REMAINS ANONYMOUS.
SAFE HAVEN BABY BOXES (SHBB):
I get that it is good the babies were not aborted but what really is going on with the mothers who do this? Are they really unable to care for the babies and in a crisis or are they just women who didn’t want the baby? I’d like to know the real story. Maybe the father abandoned the mother at the last minute or maybe they didn’t want to abort but were prostitutes?
Wish we knew the actual circumstances and could see what the statistics show overall. Why is this happening?
Me too! I’m sitting here with tears as well! And God bless you and those four precious gifts you adopted!
Wow that is awesome
There is a grace period and then the parental rights are legally severed and the child can be adopted by the people who are probably already caring for it.
The foot print and DNA are recorded and there is a search to see if the child matches any who have been reported missing nationwide.
I will view your nick in a new way from now on, with high respect!
There is a South Korean documentary movie called “The Drop Box” that should be viewed by every pro-life and pro-choice person on this site and in the world.......
I appreciate your encouraging news regarding the both the unborn and/or unwanted being rescued.
The Baby Box babies have already been born. Abortion is no longer an option. If the mother wants to stay anonymous, the dumpster may look to her like the best alternative. If she has to drop the baby off at a hospital or some state-recognized institution, she risks being recognized or encountering some idiot who will insist that she provide identification, fill out forms, and be photographed so her story will appear in tomorrow's newspaper.
And no, an official "No questions asked" policy will not resolve those perfectly legitimate fears.
Baby Boxes can solve both the baby survival problem and the anonymity problem. However the boxes have to exist locally (often not the case), the mother has to know that they exist, and trust that the Baby Box organization will deliver on its promise. That requires a lot of publicity.
So I hope that this 50 baby milestone gets plenty of publicity.
Nosy little bugger, aren't ya?
Newborn infants are easy to adopt out. There are far more people willing to adopt a newborn than there are available newborns.
If the mother wants to do it anonymously, what business is it of yours?
The business of understanding what the problem is and maybe helping before the problem happens.
Why do you think they take statistics?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.