Shotgun 1 #1 April 10, 2008 I keep seeing this sign at the local fire station and wondering what it is for, and I finally remembered to look it up. Turns out it's a safe haven where people can legally give up their babies. (http://www.rvcfire.org/opencms/BabySafeHaven/) Am I the only one who has never heard of this? The sign doesn't say anything, just has a picture of a baby. So I'm sort of wondering if anyone who would want to use that service would even know about it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conundrum 1 #2 April 10, 2008 This law has been around for some time now. I think it's a better alternative than dumping a child into a trash can or leaving them behind a building because you don't want them. At least with this they will have a chance to be adopted into a loving home instead of being dead. What I don't understand, though, is why someone would drop them off somewhere randomly. Is it that difficult to actually go through the process of giving your baby up for adoption? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyDekker 1,465 #3 April 10, 2008 I guess it is when you are a scared young girl, whose family had no clue she was pregnant to begin with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #4 April 10, 2008 Quote What I don't understand, though, is why someone would drop them off somewhere randomly. Is it that difficult to actually go through the process of giving your baby up for adoption? For you, or me, or other adults in good mental health with good support systems ... no, but the number of abandoned babies a year indicates there's at least a few women/girls out there for whom it's a difficult process. I agree that it's sad that we need these kind of safe haven laws and programs, but glad that they're there so that the babies have a chance for a safe life when the mother panics."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conundrum 1 #5 April 10, 2008 yeah I can see that. I was just basically asking how hard is the adoption process if you wanted to do it the real way (i.e. instead of dropping them off). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 1 #6 April 10, 2008 QuoteWhat I don't understand, though, is why someone would drop them off somewhere randomly. Is it that difficult to actually go through the process of giving your baby up for adoption? I would imagine it's very difficult emotionally for someone to give up her/his baby for adoption, so perhaps it's easier for some people to give them up as quickly as possible? Particularly if she is mentally unstable (or something like that), she might realize that it's safer for the baby to get to a safe place as soon as possible. And there are probably lots of other reasons . . . I don't know. It's hard to imagine having to do that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SARLDO 0 #7 April 10, 2008 Where can I get one of those for my house. Can't have kids with my wife and can't afford to adopt right now I would gladly accept a child before seeing another one dumped in a trash can. That just breaks my heart. "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest" ~Samuel Clemens MB#4300 Dudeist Skydiver #68 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conundrum 1 #8 April 10, 2008 Wow, that's sad. Sorry to hear that. Maybe you can go to a local hospital or fire station and ask? Adoption is a good thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 1 #9 April 10, 2008 Have you thought about becoming foster parents? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #10 April 10, 2008 Quoteyeah I can see that. I was just basically asking how hard is the adoption process if you wanted to do it the real way (i.e. instead of dropping them off). It gets more difficult for the biological mother every day. You need to give notice to every family member, etc., of the prospective adoption, including notice to the biological father. For many women - especialy the young mothers - this is not only the easiest solution, but the best. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SBS 0 #11 April 10, 2008 Quote I think it's a better alternative than dumping a child into a trash can or leaving them behind a building because you don't want them. It's like the recycling of baby disposal. Waaaaaay better for the environment. _____________ I'm not conceited...I'm just realistic about my awesomeness... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #12 April 10, 2008 There was an article on CNN a month or two ago in which it described a baby found in a garbage dumpster one block from a fire station with such a sign displayed. If I remember correctly, the baby was found barely alive and ended up dying from exposure. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kbordson 8 #13 April 10, 2008 Giving a baby up for adoption is a VERY difficult process. In many ways. Emotionally.... this is a horrid decision to have to make. Even if she "didn't want" the baby... she has still carried this baby for about 9 mos, felt him/her moving, thought about the "what if" regarding keeping it and the future. This is something that she has been reconsidering for weeks.... But then she decides "Nope, can't keep this lil one" There are different adoption agencies with excellent case workers to help the process, but what if you only have an 8th grade reading level... all the papers that the case worker's putting in front of her? And now what if she's trying to hide this fact from her parents (which gets HARDER and HARDER to do) This also would show the level of social support that she might have. And if she broke up with the father of the baby (or what if it was abuse/rape) .... and now has to get back in contact with him and deal with that whole situation?! Putting the baby up for adoption is a VERY difficult task. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #14 April 11, 2008 news QuoteTampa Bay Online updated 4:00 p.m. ET, Wed., March. 26, 2008 By MIKE WELLS of The Tampa Tribune TAMPA - A 4-day-old baby girl left with paramedics at a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue station today became the 98th infant anonymously given up under the state's Safe Haven law since it went into effect in 2000. A paramedic answered a knock at Station 34's kitchen door at 11:45 a.m. and was handed an infant, Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley said.QuoteThe law allows people anonymously to relinquish babies at a staffed hospital emergency room, fire station or emergency medical services station without being charged with child abandonment. The only questions asked are about the baby's age and health.QuoteThis was the third child relinquished in Hillsborough since the law went into effect, Silverio said. In that same period, two other infants were abandoned in unsafe places and died. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefallfreak 0 #15 April 11, 2008 I agree with you...a support system would be great to have. However, if there is no support system for an individual I can see where it would be difficult. I had a good friend while growing up. She had four children by the age of 26. Her husband abandoned her. At the age of 27 she gave them all up, had no support system and had been disowned by her family and most of her friends. Everyone thought she was heartless. She would rarely talk about the situation with anyone but me. At the age of 28 she died a horrible death from cancer. Her body was eaten by this cancer (it has a name but I can't spell it) and I could finally reveal to her parents the reason why she had given her kids to an adoption agency. It wasn't for the money nor for personal freedom. It was so her children could have a chance to grow up in a stable home with people who could love them and give them a decent home. It turns out that she held this secret inside and she wasn't the monster that everyone thought she was. My only thought was - what a courageous, strong and loving person she had been. TripleF "Upon seeing the shadow of a pigeon, one must resist the urge to look up." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #16 April 11, 2008 Is ther an age limit?.... I'd like to give my brother up... he's 30 something? (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SARLDO 0 #17 April 11, 2008 QuoteHave you thought about becoming foster parents? We have not put much though into that. It would crush my wife to have a child for a time, only to reliquish him/her to someone else. We have thought about doing the Big Brother/Sister thing."Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest" ~Samuel Clemens MB#4300 Dudeist Skydiver #68 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #18 May 22, 2008 I just saw this thread. We have a sign in our ER, clearly posted for anyone who can read to read, that says that people can legally leave...as in give up....their babies there. It's kind of an attention-getter...makes people look twice, but I'm glad it's there. I'd much rather someone leave an infant they don't want with us in the ER than most other options they may choose.-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
