A Different Kind of Christmas Gift

The reaction to the discovery that someone had left a four or five month old baby boy in the lobby of a hospital a few days before Christmas was as swift as it was condemning: Who, the media and police wondered, could do such a horrible thing? I, however, suspect that the “culprit” was a loving and caring (albeit stressed-out) person, perhaps a teenaged mother overwhelmed and embarrassed by the reality they could no longer adequately care for the child.

The law, somewhat arbitrarily to my mind, allows for a newborn to be dropped off at a fire or police station, or a hospital, within 72 hours of birth … no questions asked. The law was put into place to provide a reasonable and safe alternative to simply throwing a newborn into a trash bin. In this case the parent evidently thought they could care for the child (which, according to reports was indeed very well cared for) but four months later, for whatever reason, decided they could not handle parenthood. So now law enforcement is looking for the parent(s) with punitive purposes in mind — but should they be?

The baby had no bruises, no burns, no broken bones … the boy was obviously well-fed and wrapped in warm clothing when found. To my mind this was a Christmas gift — an undamaged child. Rather than punish the parent(s) I’d pin a medal on them for making a right decision for the child … to leave the boy somewhere he’d be quickly found and properly taken care of.

Unfortunately, there is no simplified way for a parent to relinquish custody of a child; the red tape, shame and guilt makes the process arduous at best … even for a stable individual — just try to image what a stressed-out new mom might be feeling and going through.

If we as a society want to locate the parent(s) it should be for one reason, and one reason only … to help them if we can. Rather than heap opprobrium, scorn, and the weight of the law on their heads, we should be asking what we can do to make this parent strong and sufficient enough to be able to successfully raise the boy into manhood. That, to me, would be in the true spirit of Christmas.