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    Human Interest Commentary

    Newborn Now with “Forever Family” after Being Placed in TN Safe Haven Baby Box

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    To encourage people to give up those infants they don’t have the resources to care for rather than abort them, Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been set up around the US in which parents of children that need to give them up for adoption can anonymously place the infants in a continuously monitored box. One was recently set up in Knoxville, TN, and a “forever family” for the baby boy placed in it has already been found.

    Monica Kelsey, the founder of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said that the organization honors mothers for choosing the option that keeps the baby safe, saying, “We honor [this mother]. She had a host of other unsafe options and she chose a safe option.”

    Continuing, Kelsey emphasized the sort of desperation parents much be feeling to leave their baby in the box while also noting that the one newly installed in Knoxville must have been placed in the right location.

    Speaking on that, she said, “It’s not that they don’t love their child. They’re just in a crisis that you and I may never understand. For this parent to utilize this box, 99 days after this box went into service, I think speaks volumes about the box being in the right place at the right time and Knoxville definitely needing this last resort option.”

    Happily, she also said that the baby boy placed in the Knoxville, TN, baby box has already been found a family. “That baby is healthy and it’s going to live a beautiful life with an adoptive family. He has been placed with his forever family and the adoption process is underway,” she said.



    Continuing, she then noted that the organization, which has already recovered 10 babies, is attempting to expand its operation to save more children. In her words: “We’re only halfway through the year. But, we also have you more baby boxes out there and multiple states, so they’re more available in different places in the country.”

    The organization is funded by sponsors rather than state or federal funding. Speaking about the sponsors and what their support means, she said, “[Sponsorship] is obviously a financial obligation, but it’s also walking alongside us. I think she was very appreciative that I let her know before she heard from anyone else because she works so hard to get that box in Knoxville.“

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    Knoxville Fire Department Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks also commented on the baby surrendered at the Baby Box and the program itself. Speaking on it, he said, “The whole purpose of this box is to be a resource for our community, that a mother or a parent that is in crisis and doesn’t know what to do with a child, has a place to go. It may sound a little bit hard to say, but we don’t want them putting the child in the dumpster, we would much rather them place the child in this box where it’s safe and has an opportunity,” Wilbanks added “So this is simply that, this is a resource for the community and it makes us feel great to know that it did some good within three months of installing it.”