Over the past decade, newborn Alaskan babies have been left to die in a city park, a street corner and outside downtown offices in Anchorage.

Stories like these are crushing and heartbreaking.

Many people can’t understand how a mother could just leave her baby alone and in the cold, exposed to the elements.

What we do know is that these mothers did carry their babies to term or close to term and there’s a good chance they gave birth alone.

It’s so easy to judge someone in these circumstances, but they must have felt desperate and afraid, not knowing what to do with a situation they couldn’t handle.

When a mother is confronted with a baby that she really feels she cannot care for (for whatever reason), she does have the option to surrender her child to a fireman or a nurse or any medical care professional in the state of Alaska.

As good as this sounds, it’s not good enough, not by a long shot.

To those who are angry at mothers for abandoning their babies, please step back for a moment and try to put yourself in their shoes. They most likely hid their pregnancy because, for some reason, they did not feel safe to reveal their child in their own home. Then they carried that baby to full term, when they could have destroyed their child at any time. Then they most likely delivered the child alone. Imagine being by yourself when delivering a baby. Even if they did receive some care, it was likely a secret birth.

Try to just picture this scene – no flowers, no balloons, no celebration or support, just isolation on what’s supposed to be the best day of their lives. After all of this, she holds the baby that she clearly didn’t want anyone in her world to know about, and she does not feel like she can bring this child home. What is she going to do? If you think that this mother, who’s kept everything hidden up to this point, is all of a sudden going to trust some stranger to see her face while she hands over a baby, I would have to say that you’re dead wrong.

I want to explain this situation, step by step, because we are in the process of introducing legislation that could bring lifesaving Baby Boxes to Alaska – one of the coldest places on earth. The biggest hurdle we’re facing is the mentality that our current law is good enough, when it clearly is not.

The Alaska Safe Surrender Act does not allow Baby Boxes, and anyone leaving a baby in a baby box can be charged with abandonment.

So, what is a Baby Box?

A Baby Box is professionally built into a fire station or hospital. They are located in a private area where the mother does not have to worry about being seen. The box has an outside door, but once she puts the baby inside and shuts the door, the infant is immediately warm and indoors, while a special alarm goes off notifying the fire chief or medical staff of the new arrival. The medical team then comes and lovingly removes the baby and tends to their needs. The baby is safe, warm and well cared for throughout the entire process. Nobody goes to jail, and sometimes the fire fighter even adopts the baby.

Considering the mental state of the mother when faced with these circumstances, it’s critical she knows that taking her newborn to a Baby Box will respect the privacy she’s been seeking throughout the whole nine months of pregnancy. It’s absolutely crucial that she feels safe and has this option. If she doesn’t, we know what can happen.

When a baby is left in the cold, they can die pretty quickly from the elements. That child is the primary victim, but there’s another victim – the mother who hears about the dead child she had been guarding and hiding for nine months, the baby she left outside hoping someone would find it in time. How easily the pain and guilt can catch up with her.

All of this can be avoided with Baby Boxes from Safe Haven.

We need to do two things to make this possible.

First, please contact your favorite state legislator and ask them to support and sponsor Baby Box legislation. It can’t just be added to current statute, it needs to be a new law to ensure nobody gets into trouble by leaving or rescuing one of these infants.

Once passed, we need to relentlessly spread the word about these safe and private Baby Boxes, and where they are located in each and every community. This way each generation of new mothers are fully aware that they have this option, rather than a street corner or a staircase to leave her little baby.
To find out more about this bill and how you can help, please email me at Christisourhope@protonmail.com.

Now is the time to get involved because the next session of the Alaska Legislature is coming up. We need to educate our senators and representatives on the importance of having these boxes available. I have already been contacted by first responders in two major cities in Alaska who really want to see this happen. If we work together now, we have a great shot at saving the lives of these most innocent children and giving their mothers the option they need.

Let’s do all we can to prevent another tragedy.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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