Perhaps we've all heard what may sound like urban myths about newborn babies being thrown away by their mothers—in trash cans, public restrooms, parks and elsewhere. Many of these stories that have been told and retold are based on true incidents of abandonment and prompted the creation of the Safe Haven Law.
The law, enacted through public service entities like hospitals and firehouses, seeks to protect innocent infants from death if their mothers cannot or will not care for the child after it is born.
Safe Haven volunteers, including policemen, firefighters, legislators, attorneys and more gathered in Washington, D.C. this past week to raise money for the cause. Their goal is to prevent infant abandonment and infanticide through sharing their stories of hope.
Baby Molly in Central Park
One of the most often told stories is of a baby named Molly who born a day before 9/11, in New York's Central Park. Molly was not abandoned, but was legally relinquished by law, through the N.Y. Police Department and the AMT (Ambulance Medical Technician) Children of Hope Foundation. She is now 5 years old and living happily with her adoptive parents in New York.
AMT Children of Hope Foundation is among a growing number of organizations that empowers fearful pregnant women with options that consist of prenatal care, having the birth at a hospital or by an emergency medical technician. The women receive free counseling on the options of parenting, adoption, or legal relinquishment.
Molly's biological mother gave birth to her in Central Park just before sunrise on September 10, 2001 with the aid of medical officer Tim Jaccard.
Jaccard had met Molly's mother about a month before the child's birth at a health fair in a suburb of New York to raise awareness about the foundation. A woman identified as "Maria" spoke with Jaccard about helping "a friend of hers" who she said was pregnant. Jaccard gave "Maria" the 1-800 crisis hotline (1-877-796-(HOPE) 4673) and told Maria that he could help her friend.
Jaccard received a call around 3:30a.m. from a young woman on the phone in labor requesting immediate assistance. Jaccard, who now brings an OBGYN kit with him wherever he goes, helped deliver baby Molly near the entrance of Central Park. Jaccard gave "Maria" a hotel room, but after the events of 9/11, Maria disappeared.
"I want Molly to know that her mother didn't abandon her," said Jaccard in a phone interview.
An Idea is Born
The idea to create a safe haven for mothers who could not or did not want to keep their babies after they were born came from Jaccard's professional experience.
During his work shifts in less than a 90 day period, Jaccard experienced five horrific cases of infanticide. The experiences inspired Jaccard to sit down and answer his own question, "Why can't a mother go to a hospital, hand her baby over, and walk away if she cannot healthily care for her baby—and at least give the child a chance?"
From there, the first safe haven law that Jaccard wrote was enacted in 2000 in Texas by President George W. Bush, who was then governor of the state. Jaccard was featured in People Magazine in March 2006, and granted an award for humanitarian service in Houston, Texas.
Most safe havens are hospitals, but some are also fire stations, police stations and emergency medical facilities. The baby is first taken to the hospital, where the mother is offered medical help. The relinquishment is reported to the state's child and family services agency, and a speedy adoption that skips foster care can often happen because of well-prepared adoption agencies.
Safe haven laws have been proven to save not just lives, but also tax money, including investigation costs into abandonment cases. When a baby is abandoned it can cause disabilities, and they become wards of the state with high foster care costs. It also takes years for an adoption if the parents are unknown and it is uncertain if they will come back.
Saving Lives, One at a Time
Dawn Geras, founder and president of Save the Abandoned Babies, a non-profit organization in Chicago, said in a phone interview that 755 babies have been successfully relinquished under the safe haven laws in 36 states.
Currently 46 states across the nation have enacted a safe haven law, varying state by state. Says Geras, who helped write the Illinois law, "A baby is a baby, and a life is a life."
In general, the laws allow a baby to be safely relinquished at any medical emergency facility with no questions asked. A medical history sheet is optional and anonymous. To find out your state's laws you can go to http://www.nationalsafehavenalliance.org.
As of August 2001, in the state of Illinois a parent can legally relinquish their newborn up to 7 days old to any hospital, fire station, or emergency medical facility. In Illinois, mothers are given 60 days to rethink the relinquishment of their child and can receive the baby back. Parents who relinquish their child have the option of anonymously filing a medical record.
Having been granted $50,000 through the Illinois Board of Education, the Save the Abandoned Babies organization plans to distribute information packets to every high school in Illinois and make them available on their website.
After the law was enacted, Geras and others amended state requirements to place signage about the law in every health care facility and explained during in high schools health classes.
Since the law has been enacted in the state of Illinois, 27 babies have been successfully relinquished.
"I felt like I just got a grandchild," said Geras when she was told about their first success story of a child who is 5 years old now.
The organization works closely with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
Kendall Marlow, public relations representative for DCFS in Chicago, said in a telephone interview, "If this law had saved only one child since it has been passed, it is a great triumph for public policy."
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