There was a time when parents who abandoned their children were a rarity and fit a narrow profile. Due to overwhelming social/cultural pressures, their unplanned pregnancy put them at risk, so they felt they had no choice but to hide the pregnancy, give birth alone, and surrender the infant to a nearby hospital.
In post-Roe America, we anticipate 50,000+ unplanned/unwanted births per year. The profile of at-risk parents is no longer an extreme outlier but more likely to fit the profile of an average person of reproductive age within states restricting abortion. Privately funded “baby boxes” – modern versions of medieval abandonment wheels - are being installed in so many states that they are actually shaping a national infrastructure.
What’s wrong with baby boxes? First, their scaled-up use is a sign of people increasingly forced into childbirth. Second, they’re an indicator of mistrust between communities and state-sponsored services; due to bias and judgement, people don’t feel safe at surrender sites like hospitals, fire stations, or child services. Third, "baby box" policies fast-track infants to preapproved economically secure families while birth parents’ rights are rapidly terminated. Fourth, baby boxes show that while we care about the babies, we don’t extend care to birth parents or struggling families.
I will discuss my extensive work with national stakeholders in response to the shifting legal landscape which feeds a profitable adoption system; I will also discuss options for more empathic law based on global best practices, including increased community collaboration and anonymous birth.