Harm Reduction

A baby girl has become the first child to be left in one of two “baby boxes” installed last year in the Czech Republic for mothers to abandon their children without risk. The 4.4-pound girl, named Sonya, was left with a birth certificate and letter from her mother explaining that she is a single parent who had given birth to twins and could not take care of them both, the daily Dnes reported yesterday. “I would be very grateful if you could give her for adoption to a couple who have been waiting for more than 10 years for a child,” the mother added in the note found with the baby at the Prague box. The boxes aim to prevent the deaths of abandoned babies by providing mothers with a clean, safe place to leave them with an alarm instantly alerting nearby medical staff.
national post

There has been a good deal of chat about birthrates and daycare and family friendly government in the Canadian blogosphere of late. In the end it comes to this: a little baby in a box looking for a life.

The beginning of any resurgence in our own birthrates will be when this does not sound like a good idea.

Written by jay on February 21st, 2006 with 3 comments.
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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Occam’s Carbuncle
#1. February 22nd, 2006, at 11:54 PM.

I’m feeling rather foggy today. Could you please explain that last sentence? I think I get it, but…

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com lrC
#2. February 23rd, 2006, at 12:46 AM.

I’d like a clearer explanation, too. I’m inclined to think Jay is alluding to a shift in mindset among people who think children are just something to be dropped off somewhere - permanently, or temporarily on a recurring basis - when they become inconvenient.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com jay
#3. February 23rd, 2006, at 1:02 AM.

IrC pretty much gets it. Part of the argument about birthrates comes down to making it possible for a woman in this woman’s circumstances to care for both her twins.

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