What they found on the doorstep, in the shoebox, just beneath a gray tank top and blue T-shirt was an 8-pound, 20-inch newborn girl.

The elements were cold as she shivered on a blue towel. Nearby was printed message in pencil: "I can’t take care of my baby. Please help."

About seven hours after finding the baby, police took the mother – a 17-year-old high school student in for questioning. Detectives said the girl had confided in a school counselor, who then called police.

The mother was later taken to a nearby hospital. She faces a preliminary charge of neglect of a dependent, a felony.

Under Indiana’s Safe Haven Law, parents can drop off their infants within 45 days of birth with no questions asked. Parents don’t even have to do it by their self.  They can give the baby to someone else to drop off for them.

A spokesman stated unlawful abandonments continue because not enough mothers know about the Safe Haven Law.

Perhaps schools should include more information about the Safe Haven Law in their family planning or health classes. It just seems so tragic that a young girl should go through a birth by herself and then feel she has no recourse but to abandoned her child. Surely this girl would have made a different decision had she known.

What do you think is the best way for teens to be made aware of the Safe Haven Law?

Source: Courier Journal

Post from: Blisstree

17-year-old mother faces neglect charge for abandoning newborn

My son’s friend is an only child. He calls Trenton his brother and follows him around like a lost puppy. They are inseparable during the school year and I wondered what he would do, come summer time, when they would not see each other every day. Now I’m just tormented, thinking about how badly his little heart must be breaking, over his family’s dissolution. He doesn’t even have a sibling to help him through this tough time. I had my sisters and we were a great source of comfort to each other. How do only children get through an experience like this?

I am also feeling quite angry towards this boy’s mother. I can’t help it. I do not know the whole situation, of course. All I know is that this mother has chosen to abandon her son. Marriage takes two people, as does the destruction of it. Parenting, however, should not be compromised just because a marriage doesn’t work out. Why doesn’t this mother want custody of her son? How can she feel okay with her abandonment?  My maternal grandmother left her eight kids behind, when she left my grandpa. As much as I love her, I can never respect her decision to do such an abhorrently selfish thing. Maybe I feel so strongly about it because I was on the receiving end of abandonment and I know how badly it destroys a child’s sense of security and trust. What are your feelings about this subject?

Post from: Blisstree

Excuse Me While I Cry