A Japanese hospital plans to set up the country’s first “baby hatch” where mothers can drop off unwanted babies, who could then be offered for adoption.
Jikei Hospital in southern Japan said it plans to install what it is calling a “stork’s cradle,” consisting of a flap in an outside wall which opens on to a small incubated bed.
An alarm bell would ring within minutes after a baby was deposited so hospital staff could come and care for the infant.
“By installing the hatch, we want to rescue both parents and babies,” said a hospital official. “Maybe there are some people who are suspicious about it, but we should not pretend not to see them and let them die. Babies are innocent.”
Adoptions are relatively rare in Japan, while there is little resistance on religious grounds to abortions.
Maybe they could try this at some of the Christian hospitals in the U.S., too. Working on a project like this might keep the “pro-life” crowd away from all those anti-war demonstrations they organize.
[edited: comments guide]
And I thought my animal pics were sappy.
Could I get rid of my ex-wife this way?
This has been going on in the US for years…
Its just NOT publicised
In Quebec, canada, a 16 year old dropped her new born in the woods. The baby died… Maybe this is not that crazy ? I know better education and prevention is better…
Interesting to me how anonymity is important in cases like these, when the woman has carried the baby to term, and kept the child after the birth.
All the people she is frequent/regular contact with know she has recently had a child…
Is anonymity important as a way to avoid the paperwork-hassle of placing the child up for adoption, or is it to prevent the child from finding them in future years? A little of both?
So I guess you can now officially get anything from a Japanese vending machine.
Roaches, coffee, holy water, pizza, school girl’s panties, and now babies.
Mike — anonymity is one of the ongoing questions the article avoided altogether. In an age when DNA recording expands hourly — offtimes to productive ends — how is anonymity preserved in an instance like this?
Suppose one of these twerps grows up wanting to know about both biological parents? How much info will be on file by then? Who has priority rights?
Dave now come on, that is completely dishonest, you can not even begin to compare those anti-war/gay nuts to regular Christians. That is pretty low even for you.
Dave now come on…. That is pretty low even for you. –Neil
Especially since this isn’t even Dave’s post.
Well color me stupid, he usually makes off the wall comments like that.
My bad, Eideard is being dishonest then …. sorry dave.
The kids – under 21, or maybe as old as 25 – IMHO, want the anonymity…. Mom & Dad would never understand….
As an adoptive parent, and find this a great idea. And, yes, I think this has been done quietly here in the US for a long time.
There is, however, a legal muddle within the adoption area, and the potential for legal hassles when a girl (particularly if she’s underage) attempts to surrender a baby unless all the legal formalities have been observed (which may include parental notification). That could easily turn off a lot of kids. They don’t want their parents to know….
(How the parents would not know, I sort of wonder, but kids go off to College and may be “invisible” for a while. A bulky sweater and jeans will hide a lot of things…. )
Our adoption was handled by an OBGYN and a team of lawyers who knew exactly how to do it, and the birth mother was old enough to not have legal issues (allegedly, her parents were fully aware and supportive). Kinda “textbook”, if a little expensive. (Lucked out – the baby’s medical expenses turned out to be covered on my hospitalization policy! However we’d already paid the hospital. Took about $150 worth of lawyer time to recover the money from the hospital.)
(The potential adoptive parents need to jump through a bunch of hoops, and it’s hard to find babies rather than older children. Abortion isn’t helping that, but I get a little upset about the paperwork and costs. Still, it beats leaving the kid in the woods. Then there was a buddy of mine who was adopted. His birth mother and adoptive parents didn’t like him….)
Regards,
Stu.
Yessireebob, Neil — how could someone imagine a Christian opposing a war? Maybe a Christian who wasn’t a hypocrite?
0. Or even more likely, working on a project like this might keep “pro-life” anti-war demonstrators away from full-term abortion hospitals.
RBG
My school district requires health teachers to tell students that hospitals (and other places) will take ‘unwanted’ babies, no questions asked.
“…within minutes…”
Well that’s good. I wouldn’t want to see unwanted babies hanging out in some metal container outside of a hospital for too long.
I wonder how much play this story will get, considering it doesn’t fall within the limited confines of “pro-life” and “pro-choice”.
Something similar to this has been in operation in Arizona for I think about 6 years now. After a rash of babies in dumpsters(dead and dying) it was worked out to allow Mothers to leave the child at any fire station (I honestly would have to check about other public places). It has been used quite a few times in and around Phoenix.
This has been done for MANY years…
Drop your kid off at ANY state location, fire house, Police station, hospital, and so forth..
For the kids…
Its always been funny, that there ARE choices.
That they are NOT publisized..
You always see the Pro/anti abortion NEWS, but you NEVER hear of the choices, OTHER then those.