BABY-BOXES : SALVATION OR A THREAT?

A controversial and acute issue that causes heated discussions in the society.

Do they really save the lives of children or motivate parents to be irresponsible?

Baby-boxes are specially equipped places where it is possible to refuse a newborn child, but at the same time to remain completely anonymous.

These places have all special conditions for safe staying of a baby for definite period of time, though they've special system of sygnal when a baby is inside. Baby-boxes are always built in churches or hospitals.

Initially, the goal of their implementation was the idea of saving lives. Activists thought that parents who want to kill their child can save his life and take him to a baby-box.

But the practice shows that their existence don't influence number of cases with killing of kids. Moreover, the number of rejection from newborns only increases!

All kids in baby-boxes are left with some food, diapers, clothes and notes, when he or she was born, and what their names are. Does it look like parents hate their baby and were going to kill him? No. As a rule, moms use these boxes when they can't leave a baby and take care of him.

In this case their existense is logical, BUT there are rather many cases when ### kids are left NOT by moms, so they have been just stolen! So baby-boxes make the process of stealing babies too easy and unpunished!

Moreover, many womens can be in difficult life situations, when they give birth to a child being not married and just being left by baby's father. They have lack of money and just deep depression and despair. They can make a decision to use a baby-box spontaneously and thoughtlessly, but when in 2-3 days they'll undertand their mistake and want to take a baby back, it will be very hard to realize it!

First of all. It's rather hard to prove kinship. Mom must prove that this is her child. Whether she can do this by providing documents, or she will have to conduct a DNA test, which is not very cheap (about 500$ that is very expensive for ordinary Russian families).

In addition, she must prove that she has enough good conditions for the upbringing of the child. All this will take at least two weeks.

As we can see, there're many vivid disadvantages of existence of baby-boxes, that's why it's a hot question for numerous discussions and disputes in mass-media and the Parlament.

Nowadays, there're 19 baby-boxes in Russia, the first was opened in 2011, and was called "A window of life". Since the opening of the first baby box, 78 children have been left in them, 12 of them have been returned to biological families (to their parents or relatives), and 66 live in new families.

As we can see about 20% of cases really were a mistake, and if there hadn't been any baby-boxes, kids wouldn't be left at all (it is very likely!) because rejection from a child with individual identification is another measure of responsibility, shame and public censure. It's much easier just to leave a baby in an anonymous baby-box!

The first baby boxes appeared in the Middle Ages because women either threw newborns right on the street or stoked them in the nearest river. At the end of the XIX century, they were abolished, but in 1950-s they appeared again.

What does world experience say?

India
The leader of baby-boxes! There are about 1000 of them there. The state tries to protect kids from careless parents.

Pakistan
About 300 baby-boxes. Economical problems make moms refuse from kids, and they use these boxes rather often.

Germany
There about 100 baby-boxes! In Germany, there is no law that allows a woman to give birth anonymously, so baby-boxes are the only way-out.

Italy
For baby-boxes too. First of them appeared in the country in the 1198. The children left in such an institution were most often extramarital

France
For baby-boxes. They became popular when the country was full of immigrants in 1990-s.

USA
No baby-boxes! But they don't need them because they have a law that allows moms to leave newborns anonymously and without unpleasant consequences.

The United Kingdom
Against baby-boxes!
The English people are very keen on this issue, and if the mother decides to leave the child to the mercy of fate, she can get rather long prison term and public censure.

As we can see, the attitude to this question differs in many countries.

But the main fact remains without changes: the existence of such baby-boxes are one more way of increasing the number of orphans.

If a woman doesn't have a chance to leave a baby because of financial problems, maybe it's better to help her with money and creating better conditions for a baby's upbringing?

The installation of 1 baby-box costs about 400,000 rubles = 7,000$!! How many moms can get great support to grow their babies by themselves!

Minimal state help for 1 baby for a woman who didn't work before pregnancy in Russia is about 60 usd per month!! I got this very sum of money every month. Of course it's impossible to live and to take care of a newborn if you're not married and you don't have support from family.

Without any doubt, women should be responsible for their decision to give a birth to a child, and they must have all necessary conditions for his birth, but we all know, life is unpredictable, and there're so many unexpected situations and tragedies.

The officials declare they fight For kids prosperity and family protection, but are baby-boxes the best way for it?