Abandoning Newborns: Do Baby Hatches Really Save Lives?
Germany has over 80 so-called baby hatches, where mothers can anonymously give up their children for adoption. But there is disagreement over whether the facilities help save lives, or if they actually give women the idea of dumping their newborns. Now the government is trying to regulate the legal gray area.
The “baby hatch” is largely hidden from view at the back of a parking lot. From a distance, it looks like no more than a dark hole in the white plastered wall of the clinic.
This facility — intended as a place where anyone can anonymously give up a baby — has been in place here in the town of Erbach im Odenwald in the German state of Hesse since mid-March. It is designed so that once the human cargo has been slid through the confines of the slot, the hatch can no longer be opened from outside.
The crib frame that stands behind the hatch is custom made. An alarm system is in place to alert caregivers when a baby has been placed inside the crib, and heat lamps ensure the child’s survival. Technically speaking, everything is here and ready for mothers or fathers who might wish to give up a newborn child anonymously.
Yet so far the baby hatch has remained locked shut, and it’s unclear whether the facility will ever go into operation. “We have been left totally uncertain,” says Christiane Karnovsky, 53, deputy director of the clinic. “We no longer know if it’s even legal to run this sort of facility.”