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April Trejo
Anna Moncovich
Writing 10-24
December 6, 2014
Surrender the Infant
While you are sleeping cozy on your bed at night, an infant newborn is shivering in the
cold because of an ignorant parent. Newborn babies are the most innocent especially if they do
not know what is happening around them. There have been many cases in where infants are
abandoned, but nothing similar to a case that happened in Roseville, Sacramento to a newborn.
On July 8, 2013, according to journalist, Ed Fletcher from the “Sacramento Bee” blog, Roseville
investigators were called upon request to investigate the case of a newborn found dead, but more
importantly to find the ignorant mother who abandoned the infant and come forward to tell her
story. This case was nothing similar to those that are about babies found in trash cans. The
mother of this newborn with its umbilical cord, impassively wrapped the baby in a “blanket and
plastic bags and placed it in a diaper box where it was found in near bushes along [a] bike trail”
(Fletcher). Investigators believe that the baby had been there for a few days and are in hope to
find the ignorant women who did this to an innocent life by conducting an autopsy. This woman
obviously did not have a plan and was not aware of the California’s Safely Surrendered Baby
Law (SSB), a law in which it is okay to surrender a newborn at a hospital within seventy-two
hours and not be charged as a criminal. In fact this current year, 2014, fifty-seven newborns were
surrendered, according to the Department of Social Services.
What is more devastating than to abandon newborn infants on the streets? Thankfully,
Legislation fought for the Safely Surrendered Baby Law to pass in 2006. The Safely Surrendered
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Baby Law was strictly created for the abandoned infants who are found on the streets. To have
this law is not only intended for the abandoned infants but it is an effective policy for the safety
of young babies. However, there are drawbacks and issues that need to be addressed such as
awareness of this policy among the public, and the issue of fathers’ rights.
It all began with the Safe Haven Task Force in the year of 2002 when the Children’s
Planning Council directed this group to go out and save newborn abandonment, but most
importantly to create a plan to prevent this from occurring. Four years later in 2006, “the state of
California [passed] the Safely Surrendered Baby Law to give parents or guardians” (Baby Safe
L.A. Org.) the choice to surrender their child. To “surrender” means to give up the child to a
hospital instead of leaving the child out in the streets. If the mother decides to surrender the
baby, she has up to three days, seventy-two hours after birth to surrender the baby without being
in fear of prosecution by the law. The idea of this policy has been by far a smart movement to do
for the safety of young babies. However, the amount of time the mothers have, seventy-two
hours, is right after birth. The amount of time is not sufficient to make their toughest decision
that will be in their conscious for a life time. In other words, mothers have to deal with traumatic
pain and agony and yet still have to decide if they want their baby or not. This policy should be
more comprehensive and take in mind the mothers’ pain because it can have part in surrendering
the baby. The least we want to do is have a baby put for adoption instead of being with his/her
birth mother. Other than California, all fifty states in the United Stated do not have this law but
do have laws similar in which they discourage baby abandonment. Although it might seem that
there is awareness in all fifty states, it does not mean that everyone is deeply aware.
Unfortunately, many mothers are not aware of this law and the process; therefore, they abandon
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their newborns in the streets. Some of the reasons can be due to lack of education, not everyone
speaking the same language, or because this topic involves the idea of sex.
The Safely Surrendered Baby Law has a process unlike other policies. First and foremost,
the newborn “must be less than seventy-two hours old and free of abuse or neglect,” said Bill
Nash, spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department (Whitmore). According to the
California of Department of Social Services, “at the time of surrender, a bracelet is placed on the
baby for identification purposes and a matching bracelet provided to the parent or lawful
guardian, in case the baby is reclaimed”(CDSS). After the birth mother decides to surrender her
newborn, she is given fourteen days to reclaim her baby. This gives the mother time to think
through about her decision. This also secures the safety of the newborn at a hospital with well
treatment. In addition, a voluntary medical questionnaire must be offered to the birth mother.
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather medical information to the health of the infant.
Infants can be surrendered at any hospital or fire department as long as they are turned in
physically by the birth mother. There are many surrender sites to turn in a newborn such as:
“Alpine, Calaveras, El Dorado, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced. San Joaquin to Santa
Cruz and Tulare” (CDSS). For more information regarding safe surrender sites one can dial (1877-BABY-SAF) where service is greatly provided.
What would happen to some children without the Safely Surrendered Baby Law? As I
spoke to my partner about this policy he quickly brought up an example of how this law worked
for one of his aunts’. Approximately five years ago, his aunt had signed up to adopt a child under
this law. Surely enough, one day she received a call from a hospital letting her know that an
African American female baby had been surrendered. As happy as the aunt was, she adopted the
baby and named her Nicole. A year later, she received another phone call from the same hospital
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informing her that the same birth mother had given birth to another baby boy. The birth mother
had also surrendered the baby boy and my partner’s aunt also adopted him, and named him
Nicolas. The devastating news about this was that their birth mother was known to be a prostitute
and unfortunately had unprotected sex with other males. Without this law, who knows in what
environment these two children would have been in. Thanks to the aunt, Nicole and Nicolas are
living a healthy, normal life, and are growing up to be bright children.
There is no full solution to put a stop on mothers to abandon their children, but there are
policies that help prevent this and help mothers make a better choice. The Safely Surrendered
Baby Law is a permanent law that has been functioning for eight years. The lives of hundreds of
newborns have been saved in hospitals and fire departments. However, deaths of babies have
also been found. Why are many mothers not aware of this policy? One would expect for social
media to promote policies like these instead of focusing on how thin woman need to look in
society. This policy needs to be revised and amended to make sure people are aware in different
communities. In addition, more organizations should step in and make a movement for this
policy. There are many young females giving birth to babies and might not know that there is an
option. Uneducated mothers that perhaps do not comprehend the intention of this policy, and the
process it takes to surrender the baby might need help. Even those who are from different
ethnicities and do not know the English language, this policy needs to be written in a variety of
languages. Although this policy is beneficial for infants, it has failed in meeting the
circumstances of promotion. Following this further, it has also failed in addressing the fathers’
rights in the moment of surrendering the newborn.
Society tends to focus either on females or males one at a time in a situation. In the
Mexican ethnicity, males are often seen as the dominators of the house, and family. The male in
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the family is the one that demands how everything functions in the household. Not only for the
household, but if we look back on history, every president of the United States has been male,
every person in the hard working industry have also been male. Women are seen to be house
wives, taking care of the children, cleaning, and cooking at home. Therefore, this policy shows
the power women have received over time. The birth mothers are the ones who decide if they
want to keep their baby or surrender them to the hospital. In part, it is understandable that
women carry the baby for nine months, but it is not fair for the law to base an important decision
on one parent. Where are the fathers? A variety of answers can arise from that question. Some
may be: the father is not around, maybe the birth mother does not know who the father is,
domestic violence, or maybe the reason for the pregnancy can be out of rape the mother
experienced. Only the mother knows her reason. This does not mean that for the fathers that are
around do not have a voice on the decision for the baby. In the article, “CA: Safe Surrender Law
Not So Safe for Fathers,” that goes into depth in showing the weakness of the law and what it
failed to do. The article states that “in California… one parent may not decide the rights of the
other parent by surrendering the child pursuant to the states “Baby Moses” law that called “Safe
Surrender”…” (National Parents Organization). The reason for this is because the father as
much as the mother have the same equal rights. If the mother decides to surrender the baby, a
notice should be put on the father to inform him that he has a child that has been put for adoption
and if he is willing to pick up the baby, that is conforming. If he is not willing to pick up the
baby, then the hospital knows that they at least tried and informed him about the situation and
they could then proceed in the process. On the other hand if the case was that the mother does
not know who the father is, then related family members can then be contacted and informed as
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well. What is better than for a baby to be taken into a blood related family home than to be
adopted by strangers? Strategies like this help fathers have a voice in the decision made.
For someone to leave a child behind is like killing someone. It is a moral act and only
those who conduct the crime will receive negative sanctions for their actions. The founders of
this law have just given us a head start in developing this law further. It is now up to us to put
our part and at least spread the information about this law because not everyone is aware of
being able to surrender a baby within seventy-two hours without prosecution. Some ways in
which movement can begin to spread awareness can be to create groups of organizations and
begin to spread the word out in public. Another way can be through social media, especially
through the most common ones like: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. More importantly, we
can make a change in the infants’ lives just by spreading the word about this beneficial law. The
question now is: will you save an innocent life or will you leave the innocent life abandoned?
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Works Cited
Fletcher, Ed. "Sacto 9-1-1: Dead Baby Found in Roseville Park - Sacbee.com." The Sacramento
Bee. The Sacramento Bee, 8 July 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
LA, Baby Safe. "About the Baby Safe Surrender Program." BabySafeLa.org. Los Angeles
County, n.d. Web. 2014.
NPO. "CA: 'Safe Surrender' Law Not so Safe for Fathers." CA: 'Safe Surrender' Law Not so Safe
for Fathers. National Parents Organization, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Shane, Sam. "CBS13 Investigates: Unsafe Surrender?" CBS Sacramento. Dave Manoucheri, 7
Feb. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
"SSB Home." SSB Home. Department of Social Services, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2014.
Whitmore, Brennan. "Surrender Baby Law Helping Local Moms." News Bank Access World
News. Agoura Hills, 30 Oct. 2014. Web.