California has Safely Surrendered Baby Law. Hospitals and Fire Stations will take a newborn up to three days old. The signs look like this:
Posted on 03/04/2006 7:30:56 PM PST by formercalifornian
Meet the infant at the center of the debate about a mother's rights to give up her child anonymously.
Pavel Müller, a doctor at the private medical clinic GynCentrum in Prague 9, was watching the Winter Olympics when he heard the alarm ring. He rushed outside to find a healthy, 1-month-old girl lying on her back and wearing an oversized wool cap inside the clinic's so-called baby box, which is rigged with a sensor that goes off whenever its doors are opened.
Soòa was born prematurely to a 23-year-old single mother, and is one of a set of twins. Her mother had decided that she could not take care of two children, and left her inside the heated box instead.
That was shortly after 8 p.m. Feb. 17. Since then, Soòa has found herself the center of attention and controversy. She is the first baby to be found in either of the country's two baby boxes, which, while common elsewhere in Europe — notably in Germany and France — haven't yet been used for a year. Her discovery has rekindled the debate between those for and against the boxes, a debate that revolves around the ethics of a mother's right to give up her child anonymously.
Two more babies, a girl and a boy, were dropped off at the same baby box Feb. 25 and 26, respectively.
Proponents see baby boxes as a useful alternative to abortions or discrete pregnancies, an option available at several special wards in the country that allow mothers to legally keep births secret; babies go straight to state institutions and can be put up for adoption. The more options, the better, advocates say.
But critics say the boxes don't resolve anything.
The case for and against
One of those opponents is František Schneiberg, deputy director of the Institute of Social Medicine and Public Health at Charles University.
"A child should have the right to a name and an identity, but with baby boxes children usually don't get this right," he says. "These children often end up having problems with coming to terms with their identity when they get older."
The Health Ministry is one of the harshest critics of the baby box concept, saying the country already provides enough options for mothers who want to avoid pregnancy or who don't want to keep their children. The ministry cites birth control, sterilization, abortion or discrete birth.
There are now approximately 20,000 children living in various institutions across the country, according to the Fund for Children in Need.
Ludvík Hess is the chairman of Statim, the organization that founded the baby box system here. When he first wanted to introduce them last year, the ministry did not allow any state hospital to install one. In a statement released at the time, the ministry said: "[We] don't consider dropping off a child anonymously to be acceptable."
That's why Hess could only approach private clinics. GynCentrum got its box last June. The country's second baby box, installed last November, is in Brno at the Brothers of Mercy Hospital. Each box cost around 300,000 Kè ($12,490).
Jana Kocová, spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, tells The Prague Post that despite Soòa's safe recovery using the system, the ministry's position has not changed.
Advocates for the boxes say the alternatives are just too tragic to think about.
Consider, for example, that just four days after doctors took in Soòa, sanitation workers found the body of a newborn baby in a plastic bag in a dump in Tachovsko, west Bohemia.
Hess wonders whether that story would have been different if a baby box had been nearby.
"There should be at least 20 baby boxes in the Czech Republic," he says.
Jaroslav Živný, deputy head of the research department at the gynecological clinic at Prague's U Apolináøe hospital, where Soòa's mother gave birth, agrees.
"A baby box won't save every one," he says. "But every life counts. I don't accept arguments about the child's right to an identity."
A twist
Soòa's story is far from over, because there is a twist that is raising fresh questions about just how to go about dealing with a baby left in one of the boxes.
What happens, for example, when the baby is not anonymous?
Soòa wasn't. Her mother included her birth certificate and a letter addressed to Hess, asking him to put the baby up for adoption as quickly as possible.
Because Soòa's identity is now known, she must wait until she is at least 6 weeks old before a family can take her in. Soòa's mother must now officially consent to the adoption.
And as Soòa, who is in good condition at the General Teaching Hospital in Prague, awaits her fate, people are trying to convince her mother to take her back.
The Fund for Children in Need has received dozens of phone calls from people offering financial assistance.
"Many people think that twins should grow up together, and they really want Soòa to go back to her mother," says Marie Vodièková, director of the fund. One man called up offering 15,000 Kè. Others offered regular monthly donations for the time it would take Soòa's mother to raise her.
But Hess, who has been in contact with the mother, says financial difficulties aren't the main problem in this situation. "The mother isn't really mature enough to take care of two babies," he says.
Jozef Hoza, head doctor at the pediatrics clinic at the hospital where Soòa is staying, has also been trying to convince the young mother to keep the child, according to those familiar with the case.
But Hoza refuses to give details about Soòa's situation. "This whole media circus around Soòa isn't doing her any good," he says.
Getting people talking
Vodièková disagrees. "I'm glad that people are talking about this," she says. "Mothers need to be aware of all the options that are out there if they can't keep their children."
Hess says that baby boxes have already proven their usefulness in Germany, where in the past four years, 100 children were saved that way.
Every woman who gives up her baby has a different reason, Hess says, and that's why there need to be many options available.
Vodièková says that since the story about Soòa surfaced, several pregnant women contacted the fund asking advice and for more details about baby boxes.
"When a mother is under stress and doesn't know where to turn, the baby box can be the best solution," Vodièková says. She notes that women who don't want to keep their babies are often in difficult family situations, in which they don't want people close to them to even know they are pregnant.
Of course, having different options available for unwanted children won't stop all tragedies like the one in Tachovsko from happening.
Hess is aware of that, but he is optimistic.
"Even if Soòa were the only baby saved, I would say it is worth it," he says.
Should be Sona. The tilda in Czeck seems to have caused havok with the headline.
""A child should have the right to a name and an identity, but with baby boxes children usually don't get this right," he says. "These children often end up having problems with coming to terms with their identity when they get older." "
Oh Puhleeez
I'm proud of the Baby Moses laws, but saddened at the situations that lead girls and women to take advantage of them. While there's life, there's hope. God bless us all.
"The last one was an 'S' - Swubbles. This one will begin with a 'T'. Twist. Oliver Twist."
Couldn't agree more. In our state, the law needs more visibility.
wtf?! I typed it out as it showed up in the headline, and it came out looking right! Strange!
yeah, it's much better to be left for dead in a dumpster or the trash can in the bathroom at the prom then have to struggle with not knowing it's real name.
No worse than Lemonjello.
California has Safely Surrendered Baby Law. Hospitals and Fire Stations will take a newborn up to three days old. The signs look like this:
No kidding, puleez indeed. Should shmood. Babies have been dropped off at orphanages and convents for hundreds of years. The kids do fine -- they have life, they have care. They are away from parents who are content to dump them. Let it GO.
prolife ping
Considering the other possible outcomes for the kid, I can't imagine what problems someone would have with this.
Dumb controversy. This is a heck of a lot better than the dumpster.
Why are people attempting to convince the mother to take the child back?? So she can change her mind again in a few months and maybe just drop the baby in a lake?
Ping.
I think it is far better that a woman abandon her child in a safe place than many of the other alternatives.
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