More safe havens for unwanted babies
Print Edition
China will provide safe havens for parents to abandon unwanted children across the country despite debate on whether they could see more babies dumped.
The country has set up 25 so-called baby hatches in 10 provinces and major cities since June 2011. More will be built in another 18 regions, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption.
The havens usually have an incubator, a delayed alarm device, an air conditioner and a baby bed, the report said. Welfare staff retrieve a baby five to 10 minutes after a person leaves the child and presses the alarm button, allowing families to give up the infant safely and anonymously.
In most cases the children have severe illnesses or disabilities such as Down syndrome or cerebral palsy. Many babies are given up because parents cannot afford expensive medical bills and fees for special education.
A disabled child can be a huge drain on a family’s resources, and the limits imposed by the country’s one-child policy can also be a factor. The facilities have been praised for helping save the lives of children who would otherwise be abandoned in the street and as a mark of social progress.
But they have also sparked concern that their existence encourages parents to abandon unwanted babies, which is illegal, Xinhua said.
A baby hatch in Guangzhou received nearly 80 children aged between two days and five years in just two weeks after it opened in January.
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