It started when a woman saw a news story about a dead baby found on the roadside in a duffle bag. The first part of Debi Faris’s mission was to bury the child with respect. She set up Garden of Angels and has buried more than eighty children since it started.
Her second mission was to find a way for a mother to safely give up an unwanted child without fear of prosecution. This became the Safe Surrender Law, which is celebrating its ten year anniversary here in California.
The law states that anyone who has legal custody of an infant under seventy-two hours old can take the baby to a hospital or fire station and drop it off. The baby and mother are given ID bracelets. There is a fourteen day waiting period, at which time the mother could go back and claim the child if she changes her mind. The waiting period differs from state to state. This is the law in California.
This law is now active in all fifty states. There have been over 1500 children saved that we know of. 1500 babies that can now grow up. 1500 babies that did not die a cold, lonely death.
There are safeguards set up for some problems that could be a result of these laws. The first is legal protection for the people and institutions that accept a surrendered child. Unless there is evidence of neglect or abuse, these people cannot be sued.
There is also a question about missing children. This is not the law in all states, but thirteen have already enacted legislation that requests law enforcement officials to make sure the surrendered child isn’t listed as missing.
Another area of concern is the rights of the father. Most of those surrendering children are mothers. However, just because she doesn’t want the child may not indicate that the child’s father feels the same way. Five states have addressed that issue.
I’m probably not the only woman whose heart breaks every time a story airs about another dead, abandoned child. I’m definitely not the only one who would gladly adopt the child, if I had been offered. Eighty-seven children have been safely adopted in California because of this law. The number of dead newborns has dramatically decreased.
If you are pregnant or you’ve just had a baby that you don’t want or can’t take care of, you don’t have to be responsible for its death. Find a safe surrender location and take the child there. It will be well cared for and loved. You won’t face abandonment or murder charges. It’s the right thing to do.