May 23, 2008
Take Me Baby Or Leave Me
Over in Oakland this morning, a premature newborn was found "unconscious and unresponsive" in a dumpster by a homeless lad looking for recyclables. The dead infant was discovered on the 600 block of 14th Street at around 7:40 a.m. Everyone was all kinds of upset. According to the Merc:
The witness, obviously upset, wondered why the baby was thrown away. "If they didn't want the child, all they had to do was go across the street to the First Unitarian Church. I'm sure they would have taken it in."This is disgusting," he said.
So is diving through a dumpster. Hey oh! But seriously, folks: if you want to ditch little Dylan or Emily, you don't have to be so homicidal about it. In fact, you can relinquish custody of your newborn at fire stations around the Bay Area. We think firefighters now use them instead of dalmatians.
Or you can locate the nearest Safe Surrender Site by gong here. But of course there are certain rules and regulations for abandoning your child. Follow the jump for more legalese on the matter.
INFANT SAFE HAVEN LAWSInfant's Age
Statute: Penal Code § 271.5
72 hours or youngerWho May Relinquish the Infant
Statute: Penal Code § 271.5
• Parent
• Other person having lawful custodyWho May Receive the Infant
Statute: Penal Code § 271.5
A safe-surrender site that includes:
• Public or private hospital
• Any location designated by the County Board of SupervisorsResponsibilities of the Safe Haven Provider
Statute: Health & Safety Code § 1255.7
• Provide medical care
• Provide parent with medical questionnaire
• Place coded identification ankle bracelet on child and offer a matching bracelet to the parent
• Notify Child Protective ServicesImmunity for the Provider
Statute: Health & Safety Code § 1255.7
YesProtection for Relinquishing Parent
Statute: Penal Code § 271.5No person leaving an infant with a safe haven provider may be prosecuted for abandonment, failure to provide, or desertion
Effect on Parental Rights
Statute: Health & Safety Code § 1255.7
• Department will file dependency petition
• Parent has 14 days to reclaim child
Failing that, you acn always have it "taken care of." Go here for more details.
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Does the baby have to be yours to surrender it?
ideally, yes.
There is no excuse for this. None.
Won't they take teenagers, too? If not, bah, they are of no use to me.
On the serious, I truly don't understand why someone would do this, particularly in a state where surrender sites are everywhere.
Maybe more PSAs on Channel One are needed.
Why are we assuming that the kind of crack ho chickenhead who'd birth then dump a baby would have enough wits about her to pay attention to blue signs announcing "Hey you! Dump your baby here!" I mean, the word "surrender" has three syllables in it. That's way too difficult a word for like 75% of the American public to even begin to comprehend.
"We think firefighters now use them instead of dalmatians."
call me old fashioned, but i don't think the dead baby post is the place for jokes... just bad taste... :(
I think dead baby jokes are in better taste than using a frowny face to express disapproval at dead baby jokes...
I have read you religiously through my google reader feed for a very long time. But this article led me to unsubscribe. Your humor is vile, your respect for the mother, the child and the poor person who found the baby's body was non-existent.
This was beyond poor judgement, it was elitist and cruel.
I am sad to lose the many things I like about your site, but your advertisers deserve to know that readership declines because of posts like this.
we will miss you, jennatortue. thanks for reading!
What do the dalmatians do, anyway?
Yeah, Brock. You'll never be anyone's godfather! Not with a sense of humor like that. Just kidding. Are you available for baptisms?
I remember walking by the fire station over here one day and seeing that sign, and thinking that would be one of the things that would freak out someone from like, the 1920s who gets teleported ahead 80 years into the future or something.