The Etownian >> Opinion
Baby hatches avert responsibility but ‘need to exist’
Thursday April 22 2010
Picture this scene: a teenage girl in Germany just had a baby, yet she has no idea what to do. She is too young to raise a child and does not have the money to even do so. So what does she do? Luckily for her, she can go down to her local baby hatch. She will walk to the side of the building, open up the flap, and place the baby into a soft incubated bed. Then she will hurry on her way.Though this scene sounds like it is from a happily-ending Disney movie in which the baby is actually a princess, these baby hatches exist in present day.
Germany just celebrated the 10th anniversary of their own baby hatches, known as Babyklappen. There are about 80 locations across the country.
What happens when the baby is dropped off? An alarm alerts the facility that a baby is there. Then the baby is taken care of for eight weeks. During this time, the mother is allowed to come back and claim her child. If no one claims the baby, he or she is sent to an adoption service.
This idea is nothing new. These baby hatches date back to medieval times, when Catholic churches took in babies to protect them from abandonment.
And Germany is not only the country to utilize these baby hatches. Austria, France, Great Britain, Japan and Belgium all have these establishments.
Yet the question remains: is this ethical? To just drop a baby off and be on your merry way?
Infanticide is in every way an awful issue. The word itself makes me sick. So if these establishments prevent a baby from dying, then I will be the first to support the baby hatches. If a baby can be put into an adoption service and find a family that will love and care for him or her, then I think it benefits everyone involved. I would rather have a baby hatch available than the option of abortion.
Yet, while there are pros to this idea, there are also cons. having these institutions raises the question of responsibility. If a woman knows that if, for some reason, she were to become pregnant, she could just have the baby and drop it off, it’s an easy way out. It allows her to take no responsibility, and, in a way, could create a bigger issue. Once she hands her baby over, she is not held accountable, and it is not her problem.
Also, I think this issue causes turmoil within the societal structure and legal standards. For a society to condone a mother’s abandonment of her baby does not seem right. It does not set a good example of what is right or wrong. In Germany, these baby hatches border the lines of legality.
But when all is said and done, I do believe these establishments need to exist in some way or another.
Some argue that infanticide has not decreased even though these baby hatches exist. If this is the case, then it is the responsibility of these facilities to specifically target women to show that this is a much better option than just allowing babies to die. They must convey the message that these places will care for an abandoned baby, and all a woman needs to do is drop off her child and turn the other way.
Needless to say, giving one’s child to strangers is hard to do. But whether it is right or wrong, who knows? If it saves a baby’s life, that is all that matters.
Hopefully in time, in a perfect world, women will only have children that they intend to keep.
The Etownian >> Opinion