Several times a month I read Safe Haven Baby Box proponents declare in the news that boxes and anonymous legal abandonment are needed by “the homeless.” What the hell? Is baby abandonment –and yes, that is exactly what safe haven baby boxes promote despite the nicey-nice claim that it’s not abandonment since boxed babies are “placed into ‘loving hands'” or some such drivel–a boostrap for the homeless? I think not. It’s a boot in the head.
Is Normal Adoption Relinquishment Legal in Texas?
Two weeks ago I wrote a short piece about confusing headlines (and news stories) that suggest to the uninformed that traditional safe haven laws and baby boxes are the only way a parent can relinquish a child for adoption…We got the same rubbish during today’s baby box blessing in Lubbock, Texas.
Misleading Headlines about Safe Haven Laws
To make it worse, the article fails to mention normal adoption practices, as if safe haven abandonment is the only way adoptions can be done.
If I Were a Drinking Cat…Albion, Indiana Safe Haven Baby Box Wackery
Apparently, until April 16, 2024, those in “crisis” pregnancy or birth situations in Albion found themselves in a social services desert where public and private social and legal services, such as housing assistance, baby and mother assistance, Medicaid, WIC, SNAP, and mental health and family counseling — including family preservation options and genuine adoption planning– didn’t exist. Where the only remedy for an inconvenient baby was ditch–dumping and neonaticide.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc to Politico: “No Comment”
“No comment” means that Mrs. Kelsey, who brags on social media of her personal and the company’s business “transparency,” doesn’t want anyone digging deeper into her baby box business. That her baby box enterprise set-up is horizontal–that it not only manufactures the boxes but manufactures the moral panic that manufactures lawmakers’ and the public’s enthusiasm to install the boxes that are seldom used to remedy a manufactured epidemic (discarded newborns) that doesn’t exist.
Guest Bloggers Xena and Gus: Safe Haven Baby Boxes– The Game
Our human came across something online that was supposed to be a game. She figured out the premise and commenced her own hissing and spitting. She unfortunately shut down the page in disgust before getting the name of either the game or the developer. The game starts out with the avatar of a young woman with a child standing beside her and a baby in her arms. The beginning choice is whether she puts the baby in a baby box in front of her or keeps it to make a life for the 3 of them. Yes/No in the starkest of terms.
Nebraska Baby Box Bill: Adoption Lawyer Says What????
I haven’t traveled much, but here in Corpus Christi, I’ ‘ve never seen a “desperate” pregnant woman or new mother place an ad in the paper or Facebook or standing at the intersection of South Staples and South Padre Island Drive holding a sign PLEASE ADOPT MY BABY. Believe me, it is not that difficult to put your kid into the grabby-hands of the adoption mill. Especially if it’s brand new.
Arkansas: Safe Haven Baby Boxes Contradicts Their Own Facts
Truth is: there is no newborn discard epidemic in Arkansas. Since 2017, according to SHBB’s own statistics. 4 discard cases were reported.
Fun at Safe Haven Baby Boxes
Now, I believe that SHBB Inc founder and CEO Monica Kelsey actually cares about these babies. She may love them. It’s not an act. She sometimes refers to them as “my babies.” She fantasizes occasionally that someday one of these (grateful) kids will grow up and take over the baby box company when she retires. Frankly, I don’t see her ever retiring because it’s much more fun and easier than her former job of firefighter/EMT, and there’s lots of free travel thanks to other people’s dimes.
Save Haven Baby Boxes are Amenities?
Here I thought amenities were Scotch in the refrigerator, a fluffy monogrammed bathrobe in the closet, and free toiletries, breakfasts, and gym at the Hyatt. Hershey’s Nuggets on the pillow are also nice. Godiva Truffles, better.