DOCSLIB.ORG

Abandoned Babies: the Malaysian 'Baby Hatch'

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Abandoned Babies: the Malaysian 'Baby Hatch' REPORT © 2013 SNL All rights reserved Abandoned babies: the Malaysian ‘baby hatch’ Although not an immense problem in the UK, in many other countries babies are often abandoned by their parent/guardian to an unknown fate. ‘Baby hatches’ have existed in one form or another for many centuries and are a re-emerging facility in many countries. In Malaysia available data and media reports of known foundling babies imply that the number of abandoned babies is increasing annually. This article explores the implementation of a system in Malaysia, where mothers or guardians who choose to abandon their baby are enabled to do so anonymously within a safe environment. Joan Cochrane he United Nations Convention on the In Malaysia cultural, religious and social MSc, PG Dip, Adv Dip, RGN, RM, NDN TRights of the Child describes how every stigma exists around unmarried mothers Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health and Life child has the right to an adequate standard or rape victims. This possible stigma and Sciences, Northumbria University, of living to enable them to develop not the feeling of hopelessness in providing for Newcastle upon Tyne only physically and mentally, but also a child without financial or family stability [email protected] spiritually, morally and socially1. Despite may be the main reason for mothers Goh Lee Ming this, the phenomenon of the abandoned abandoning their babies. child, seen historically in many cultures, BSc (Hons), SRN Baby hatches Nurse Manager, Integrated Healthcare still exists today. Management (IHM) Nursing Care, Selangor, The baby hatch concept is based upon 12th Malaysia Abandonment century ‘foundling wheels’ – many Abandonment can be viewed in many European churches and convents installed contexts but this article considers a wooden cylinder in the wall in which a ‘foundlings’ ie babies who are left baby could be placed. The parent/guardian somewhere by their parent or guardian and rotated the wheel, relocating the child to subsequently, either discovered by another the inside of the building, and alerted the person and given care and attention, or nuns by ringing a bell. Keywords remain undiscovered and die. In the 1950s, Germany initiated a baby abandoned babies; baby hatch; Malaysia How could anyone abandon a child? hatch programme and many other There is a plethora of literature about child countries have adopted this programme or Key points abandonment. One Brazilian study found provide an adaptation of it, to enable Cochrane J., Ming G L. Abandoned babies: that in an impoverished society where mothers or guardians to leave their babies, the Malaysian ‘baby hatch’. Infant 2013; there is high fertility, high infant mortality anonymously, in a safe place. 9(4): 142-44. tends to occur2. Within a shanty town, One hospital in Vancouver has revived 1. Abandoned babies are a worldwide mothers with several children allocated the concept of a foundling wheel, which phenomenon but abandonment can be their scarce resources to their stronger they term an ‘angel’s cradle’. This is a crib, enabled so that the baby is cared for in children and selectively neglected or located within the emergency department, safety and the mother/guardian has abandoned their weaker children. The sign-posted by an angel sign above it. It protected anonymity. study highlighted how these mothers had can also be accessed from outside the 2. The baby hatch concept has been very strong religious beliefs and took emergency department. Anonymity is adopted in Malaysia to care for comfort in their belief that God would care assured and no surveillance cameras are abandoned babies and nurture them to for their child. trained on this particular area4. live full and healthy lives within families Similarly, it is suggested that poverty and In the USA, 47 States have ‘safe-haven and communities. domestic violence are precursors to child laws’ where mothers or guardians can leave 3. Despite controversy more baby hatches abandonment3 and that following their babies in certain facilities (eg are needed within Malaysia to ensure infant safety at the point of abandonment, mothers may become hospitals, manned fire stations) while 5 abandonment. depressed and anxious through living with maintaining their anonymity . Safe-haven the guilt of deserting their child. laws also provide the mother or guardian 142 VOLUME 9 ISSUE 4 2013 infant REPORT with immunity from prosecution. rightful guardian. In the event of this not In contrast, within the UK baby happening, the baby is placed for adoption. abandonment (dependent upon the In the UK, it has been proposed that context of the abandonment) may be abandoned children are ineligible for considered to be a criminal offence and adoption due to a lack of required birth therefore prosecution may ensue6. details and medical history13. However, adoption law in England indicates that The Malaysian programme foundlings are not ineligible for adoption Official reporting mechanisms probably and that an adoption order would be made underestimate the number of cases of child by the court if it was satisfied that all abandonment in Malaysia. Due to the FIGURE 1 The Malaysian baby hatch. attempts had been made to find the highly forested areas of some provinces, it parent(s). For abandoned babies, it should is impossible to ascertain how many babies child’s development12. be recognised that it is difficult to give a may be abandoned within the remote Under the OrphanCARE programme a full picture of the baby’s background countryside – it is possible that many baby hatch was opened in 2010. The two- within an adoption report because of the abandoned babies go undetected or year planning process involved collab- lack of social and medical history. Any unreported7. Police statistics often embed oration and networking with nurses and adoptive parents would need to accept that abandonment cases within overall statistics professionals from other countries that had little was known about the child’s for maltreatment of children. already established such programmes. The background and medical history. Abandonment statistics from the Social baby hatch facility aims to provide hope The Malaysian media reports that the Welfare Department of Malaysia8 are for the lives of abandoned babies through baby hatch has reduced the mortality of shown in TABLE 1. provision of a safe haven in which to be abandoned babies within one region of Media statistics indicate that there were abandoned. It is the first facility of its kind Malaysia and, as a consequence, there are 472 reported abandonments between 2005 within Malaysia and it operates 24 hours a plans to establish more facilities across and 20109. Of these, a total of 258 infants day, every day of the year. The facility also other regions of the country14. It could be were found dead. There were 65 reported affords opportunities for mothers or argued, though, that there is no way of abandonments in the first eight months of guardians considering abandonment to knowing what the outcomes would have 2010. By comparison, the UK recorded five have informal discussions, if they wish, been for those infants if the baby hatch had abandonments in 2010. The Malaysian with nurses or social care staff. The staff not been available15. media frequently report abandonment of need to be well educated and non- There is a need for an efficient national newborn infants not only in maternity judgemental when talking to the mothers database in Malaysia for recording data, as units but also on doorsteps or in garbage or guardians. They need to have great many cases of abandonment are not bins10,11. Babies have been reported in insight into the needs and issues that documented and many are unreported. drains, hedgerows and toilets with many surround abandoned babies. Media headlines of abandoned babies are babies perishing before their discovery10,11. A public awareness campaign using mass often negative but are considered to be of The Malaysian government has explored media and public road shows and forums social interest. Using the media in a many avenues for those impoverished promoted the baby hatch. Within three positive way to promote the baby hatch mothers or guardians who, for whatever months of opening, seven babies were informs the public that the facility provides reason, want to give up their babies. received at the hatch. A baby can be left a safe place for mothers or guardians who OrphanCARE was established in 2008. It is anonymously in a cot in a dedicated room opt, probably out of desperation, to a non-governmental and non-profit (FIGURE 1). Following closure of the door, a abandon their babies. making organisation. Their main aim is to bell or alarm alerts staff to the baby’s Currently special dedicated teams of assist in changing society’s point of view presence. police officers are being established in about leaving children permanently in OrphanCARE is keen to provide every Malaysian police district orphanages. They view an orphanage as a mothers or guardians with information headquarters. This is to ensure that each ‘transit point’ before placing a child within regarding their options. There are case of child abandonment outside of a family. Their mission statement – ‘Every numerous multi-lingual pamphlets and OrphanCARE is investigated swiftly and child needs a family’ – is supported by leaflets in prominent areas of the facility. effectively. research findings revealing that spending These provide relevant information for the very little time in an institution, or some person leaving the baby, including reassur- Controversy and future measures time in foster care prior to adoption, ance that if there is a change of heart or There is much controversy surrounding appears to have minimal impact upon a mind, the baby will be returned to its the concept of baby hatches. There are many anecdotal criticisms of the American safe-haven laws suggesting that there is no Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 evidence of a reduction in the number of Number abandonments nor any change to the 71 70 121 98 26 68 53 63 58 62 115 of cases reasons for possible abandonment.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Anonymous Birth Law Saves Babies—Optimization, Sustainability and Public Awareness
    Arch Womens Ment Health (2016) 19:291–297 DOI 10.1007/s00737-015-0567-3 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Anonymous birth law saves babies—optimization, sustainability and public awareness Chryssa Grylli1 & Ian Brockington2 & Christian Fiala3 & Mercedes Huscsava4 & Thomas Waldhoer5 & Claudia M. Klier1 Received: 5 April 2015 /Accepted: 30 July 2015 /Published online: 13 August 2015 # Springer-Verlag Wien 2015 Abstract The aims of this study are to assess the impact of neonaticides. The subsequent significantly decreasing num- Austria’s anonymous birth law from the time relevant statisti- bers of anonymous births with an accompanying increase of cal records are available and to evaluate the use of hatches neonaticides represents additional evidence for the effective- versus anonymous hospital delivery. This study is a complete ness of the measure. census of police-reported neonaticides (1975–2012) as well as anonymous births including baby hatches in Austria during Keywords Anonymous birth . Baby hatches . Neonaticide . 2002–2012. The time trends of neonaticide rates, anonymous Child abandonment legislation births and baby hatches were analysed by means of Poisson and logistic regression model. Predicted and observed rates were derived and compared using a Bayesian Poisson regres- sion model. Predicted numbers of neonaticides for the period Introduction of the active awareness campaign, 2002–2004, were more than three times larger than the observed number (p= The day of birth is the day in which an individual runs the 0.0067). Of the 365 women who benefitted from this legisla- highest risk of being murdered. The term ‘neonaticide’ has tion, only 11.5 % chose to put their babies in a baby hatch.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Press
    SYNOPSIS Vienna, 2001. CARLA, an Austrian woman in her late twenties and bulimic, became pregnant unintentionally and lives as a single mother under very precarious cir- cumstances. She struggles to have the strength to take responsibility - financially and psychologically - for the baby. While searching for the child’s father, Carla meets in her former favorite karaoke bar a non-binary person from Argentina who is dressed as an ASTRONAUT. The two social outcasts establish a closeness in a short time that some people cannot achieve in years in a confined space. The encounter with the Astronaut gives Carla a new per- spective on her reality and the courage to make the most important decision of her life. DIRECTOR’S MARIANO CABACO NOTES The human brain automatically organizes people and things into categories to make the world easier to understand for themselves. Discrimination, misunderstandings and fears are mostly the result of this. ASTRONAUTS deals with questions that are drastic and still hard to make for women today. When the external circumstances are precarious, a lot of feelings of guilt come up when having a child. The first baby hatch was launched in Vienna in 2001 to help parents in such hopeless situations. Being able to bring your child to such a safe place, where they are well looked after, is an important socio-political and women’s rights achievement that is just as important today as it was 20 years ago. Two strangers from different cultures meet in absurd circumstances - a Karaoke Bar in Vienna-, as out- casts of society. But their cultural differences give them the space to change their perspective on their personal realities.
    [Show full text]
  • Openness in International Adoption
    Texas A&M University School of Law Texas A&M Law Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 3-2015 Openness in International Adoption Malinda L. Seymore Texas A&M University School of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar Part of the Family Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Malinda L. Seymore, Openness in International Adoption, 46 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 163 (2015). Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/707 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Texas A&M Law Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Texas A&M Law Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OPENNESS IN INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION Malinda L. Seymore* ABSTRACT After a long history of secrecy in domestic adoption in the United States, there is a robust trend toward openness. That is, however, not the case with internationaladoption. The recent growth in international adoption has been spurred, at least in part, by the desire of adoptive parents to return to closed, confidential adoptions where the identity of the birth mother is secret and there is no ongoing contact with her. There is, however, an emergent interest in increased openness in internationaladoption, spurred by the success of domestic open adoptions, health concerns when an adoptee's genetic history is important, psychological issues relating to identity in adoptees, and concern that the international adoption might have been corrupt. International adoptive families who were once happy to avoid birth parent involvement have begun to seek them out.
    [Show full text]
  • Childlessness in Europe: Contexts, Causes, and Consequences Demographic Research Monographs
    Demographic Research Monographs Michaela Kreyenfeld Dirk Konietzka Editors Childlessness in Europe: Contexts, Causes, and Consequences Demographic Research Monographs A Series of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Editor-in-chief James W. Vaupel Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5521 Michaela Kreyenfeld • Dirk Konietzka Editors Childlessness in Europe: Contexts, Causes, and Consequences Editors Michaela Kreyenfeld Dirk Konietzka Hertie School of Governance Department of Social Sciences Berlin, Germany Braunschweig University of Technology Braunschweig, Germany Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Rostock, Germany ISSN 1613-5520 ISSN 2197-9286 (electronic) Demographic Research Monographs ISBN 978-3-319-44665-3 ISBN 978-3-319-44667-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44667-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961706 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017. This book is published open access. Open Access This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the work’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if such material is not included in the work’s Creative Commons license and the respective action is not permitted by statutory regulation, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to duplicate, adapt or reproduce the material.
    [Show full text]
  • Tradurre Figure / Translating Figurative Language Donna Rose Miller, Enrico Monti
    Tradurre figure / Translating figurative language Donna Rose Miller, Enrico Monti To cite this version: Donna Rose Miller, Enrico Monti. Tradurre figure / Translating figurative language. Bononia Uni- versity Press, pp.01-405, 2013, Rizomatica, 978-88-7395-989-2. 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/4030. hal- 02375282 HAL Id: hal-02375282 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02375282 Submitted on 21 Nov 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. TRADURRE FIGURE TRANSLATING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE A CURA DI / EDITED BY DONNA R. MILLER & ENRICO MONTI QUADERNI DEL CESLIC CeSLiC Quaderni del CeSLiC Atti di Convegni CeSLiC - 3 Selected Papers 2014 General Editor Donna R. Miller CeSLiC Centro di Studi Linguistico-Culturali, ricerca – prassi – formazione http://www3.lingue.unibo.it/ceslic/ Con il contributo di / Contributors: Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture Moderne (LILEC), Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna ILLE (EA 4363), Institut de recherche en langues et littératures européennes, Université de Haute-Alsace (Mulhouse) Dipartimento di Interpretazione e Traduzione (DIT), Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Campus di Forlì Alliance Française, Bologna Associazione Culturale Italo-Britannica, Bologna Centro traduttori della Fiera del Libro per Ragazzi, Bologna Regione Emilia-Romagna Immagine di copertina / Cover image: © Chema Madoz TRADURRE FIGURE TRANSLATING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE A cura di / Edited by DONNA R.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Shanghai's Wandering
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Shanghai’s Wandering Ones: Child Welfare in a Global City, 1900–1953 DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in History by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham Dissertation Committee: Professor Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Chair Professor Kenneth L. Pomeranz Professor Anne Walthall 2014 © 2014 Maura Elizabeth Cunningham DEDICATION To the Thompson women— Mom-mom, Aunt Marge, Aunt Gin, and Mom— for their grace, humor, courage, and love. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES iv LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi CURRICULUM VITAE x ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION xvii INTRODUCTION: The Century of the Child 3 PART I: “Save the Children!”: 1900–1937 22 CHAPTER 1: Child Welfare and International Shanghai in Late Qing China 23 CHAPTER 2: Child Welfare and Chinese Nationalism 64 PART II: Crisis and Recovery: 1937–1953 103 CHAPTER 3: Child Welfare and the Second Sino-Japanese War 104 CHAPTER 4: Child Welfare in Civil War Shanghai 137 CHAPTER 5: Child Welfare in Early PRC Shanghai 169 EPILOGUE: Child Welfare in the 21st Century 206 BIBLIOGRAPHY 213 iii LIST OF FIGURES Page Frontispiece: Two sides of childhood in Shanghai 2 Figure 1.1 Tushanwan display, Panama-Pacific International Exposition 25 Figure 1.2 Entrance gate, Tushanwan Orphanage Museum 26 Figure 1.3 Door of Hope Children’s Home in Jiangwan, Shanghai 61 Figure 2.1 Street library, Shanghai 85 Figure 2.2 Ah Xi, Zhou Ma, and the little beggar 91 Figure 3.1 “Motherless Chinese Baby” 105 Figure
    [Show full text]
  • Baby Box”, an Issue Or Solution to Child Abandonment in South Korea
    Stockholm University Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies The ”Baby box”, an issue or solution to child abandonment in South Korea Isabella Sjöstrand B.A Thesis in Korean Studies Spring Term 2018 Supervisor: Sonja Häussler 1 Stockholm University Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies Abstract A few years ago South Korea got a lot of attention from abroad. The phenomenon called “Baby box” emerged in modern society and gave mothers a place to abandon their baby in a safe environment. The purpose of this study is to trace how the phenomenon “Baby box” appeared and to understand what the situation of unmarried mothers in Korea are. By studying the Korean history of adoption practice, women’s limited status, the welfare system and law the author tries to find an answer to why so many unmarried mothers chose not to bring up their own children and instead give them up for adoption or even abandon them. The “Baby box” has become a place that saves lives of children as they are abandoned in a safe environment, however legalizing the “Baby Box” puts other issues on the table. The thesis raises the question whether the “Baby box” can be a solution to child abandonment in Korea or if the issues remain until legal action is taken. Key word: South Korea, Baby box, Single mother, Adoption, Confucianism 2 Stockholm University Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies Sammanfattning För några år sen blev Sydkorea uppmärksammat i omvärlden. Fenomenet "baby box" eller på svenska, ”Bebisluckan” som har uppstått i ett modernt samhälle, har gett mödrar en plats att överge sina barn i en säker miljö.
    [Show full text]
  • April - July 2007 Volume 33, Nos
    April - July 2007 Volume 33, Nos. 4 -7 Among Ourselves Offering A New Hope For Humanity Addressing The Heart Of Social, Economic And Political Systems It would be impossible to put together in this issue them. Their own reading of the signs of the time was in of the INFO the varied and the profound insights based one sense being influenced by a new hope that raised their on our reflections on the Compendium of the Social creative energies. They seem to be persons who spoke with Doctrine of the Church. We will thus continue with the a passion not just on the subject matter of the contents of publication of the rest of the key papers that were the Social Doctrine of the Church but their own personal presented at the Asian Presentation of the Compendium and lived convictions about their lives as followers of Jesus held last January 2007 in Thailand. in the context of Asia. They were able to bring to our All the presenters shared one thing in common. They awareness that the Social Doctrine of the Church, if it is were able to examine critically, some of the most pressing to be understood by the world today, has to be lived out issues that are confronting both the Church and the world actively by the Christian in the social, economic and of Asia. Normally, most of us tend to look at the reality political world. Christian in the world today can truly outside, either with indifference or from a very pessimistic influence the heart of our social, economic and political perspective because often we are either not too aware of systems, when the Social Doctrine becomes an essential the reality outside or that our views are often narrow and element of the evangelisation.
    [Show full text]
  • Extended Abstracts of the XIX National Congress of the Italian Society of Neonatology Firenze, Italy, 28–30 October
    Extended Abstracts of the XIX National Congress of the Italian Society of Neonatology Firenze, Italy, 28–30 October An international journal concerned with the continuity of fetal and postnatal life Publication information: Early Human Development (ISSN 03 78-3782). For 2013, volume 89 is sc heduled for publication. AIMS AND SCOPE Subscription prices are available upon request from the Publisher or from the Elsevier Customer Service Department nearest you or Early Human Development is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal which provides a forum where, original research from this journal’s website (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/earlhumdev). Further information is available on this journal and other and review papers concerned with early human growth and development are gathered. The emphasis is on the contin- Elsevier products through Elsevier’s website (http://www.elsevier.com). Subscriptions are accepted on a prepaid basis only and are uum of fetal life, the problems of the perinatal period and those aspects of postnatal growth which are influenced by entered on a calendar year basis. Issues are sent by standard mail (surface within Europe, air delivery outside Europe). Priority rates early events; and on the safe-guarding of the quality of human survival. The Journal will b e relevance to clinicians and are available upon request. Claims for missing issues should b e made within six months of the date of dispatch. researchers concerned with the continuity of fetal and postnatal life. Advertising information. Advertising orders
    [Show full text]
  • Birth Practices Through the Ages This Exhibit
    Museum Of Motherhood Birth Practices Through the Ages This Exhibit This exhibit has been produced using public domain images and text from digital and print sources on the subject of motherhood and birth practices through the ages. Every Motherhood experience is unique, making this topic extremely broad. We hope the images and information provided will be both informative and fascinating. This exhibit includes a worldly perspective; however, due to the sheer breadth and scope of something that simply attempts to skim the surface of ‘Birth Practices Through the Ages’, we have focused our attention through a primarily Western lens, taking information from European and American sources. Our future goal is to expand this collection with an even broader and more Photo by Lynsey Stone of Rachel Whaley, a chiropractor and inclusive perspective. mother in Texas Do you have something to share? Please do! We invite you to e-mail your ideas to us, or drop them in the suggestion box at the front desk and get involved with M.O.M. today. Museum Of Motherhood Birth Practices Through the Ages (Panel 1) Before 10th Century AD Procreation is a mysterious and powerful fundamental force of life. The concept of a woman giving birth without assistance is inconceivable of in modern society; yet its necessity has often required courageous acts of strength and determination. The detailed carving of this woman of Ancient Costa Rica (500-1000 AD), pictured below right, captivates the determination and intensity of a laboring woman. The Basalt figurine represents an ancient woman, who struggled to simply survive.
    [Show full text]
  • Download List Q&A
    LIST Q&A Project 1. What is ninna ho’s mission? ninna ho aims at defending the rights of abandoned children by informing women who find themselves in difficulty to keep a newborn child of both their rights and those of the baby and by installing ‘baby hatches’ in a network of hospitals throughout the country as a concrete alternative to abandonment or infanticide. It is principally involved with medical institutions and hospitals. 2. I’m interested in adopting a legally abandoned child. What do I have to do to help an abandoned child find a home and family? Generally children born in a hospital who are not recognized by their parents are adopted very quickly. You should present your request to adopt a child to the Juvenile Court in the locality where you are resident. The Court will select couples that they consider suitable to maintain and bring up one or more children from the waiting list. After a successful period of fostering the Court may proceed with the formal adoption. 3. In the case I were to be interested in sponsoring the installation of a ‘baby hatch’, how much would it cost? The cost of installing a ‘baby hatch’ depends on the hospital concerned, on the need to construct the room isolating the hatch and on any necessary work on the electrical system to connect the alarm to the maternity ward and the intensive care unit. The Managing Director of the hospital should be involved to coordinate the work at the hospital, planning permission may have to be filed for with the local authorities and a supplier for the thermal cot selected for installation in the hatch.
    [Show full text]
  • CHILD ADOPTION and SURROGACY from the BABY FACTORY: a FLUX of REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE in the SOUTH EAST of NIGERIA Chukwuma Emeka Godson (Ph.D)
    African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research ISSN: 2689-5129 Volume 2, Issue 3, 2019 (pp. 47-53) www.abjournals.org CHILD ADOPTION AND SURROGACY FROM THE BABY FACTORY: A FLUX OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE IN THE SOUTH EAST OF NIGERIA Chukwuma Emeka Godson (Ph.D) ABSTRACT: Infertility and childlessness among married couples is rife in Igboland, which is the South East of Nigeria. Child adoption and surrogacy are becoming popular options for solving the problem in recent times. These means yield quick positive result when they are sought through the baby factory which however has not been spoken well of, due to some criminal activities that sometimes take place there. Consequently, many infertile couples who would have speedily realized their goals in marriage through these means are denied the opportunity. The paper tried to closely assess the act of engaging in child adoption and surrogacy through the baby factory to determine if there is any utilitarian value derivable from the baby factory and how it could be harnessed legitimately. It was observed that these means have helped the triad involved in these procedures. Adoptive parents who got babies through the baby factories may not have been helped if these teenagers did not give birth to children that could be adopted. Genetic surrogacy fits into Igbo world view that emphasizes consanguinity and can best be realized through the baby factory structure. Due to negative publicity, actions of some greedy criminal operators, dearth of proper legislative frame work, proper monitoring and particularly, absence of government involvement in implementation to ensure uniformity in practice, baby factory activities have been hunted by law enforcement agents.
    [Show full text]