VA - Newborn girl found alive in woods

[SoBeCzar]

The number of people who don't know about safe havens is shocking...especially among young women who are most likely to need it.

I find it hard to believe an 18 yr old would not have heard of this. She had 9 months to consider her options and would have checked into them. Unless <modsnipped> had no internet access in combination with no support system I think it was a selfish thing to do. I am of the opinion she was willing to sacrifice the baby to save face.
Not doubting that many kids don't know about safe haven but feel like with access to info on line and friends at school a pregnant 18 yr old would find out. A pregnant 12 yr old might not but this girl was too old to have an excuse.

 

[carbuff]

I find it hard to believe an 18 yr old would not have heard of this. She had 9 months to consider her options and would have checked into them. Unless she was home schooled and had no internet access in combination with no support system I think it was a selfish thing to do. I am of the opinion she was willing to sacrifice the baby to save face.
Not doubting that many kids don't know about safe haven but feel like with access to info on line and friends at school a pregnant 18 yr old would find out. A pregnant 12 yr old might not but this girl was too old to have an excuse.

That may be. It may be deliberate attempted murder. But life is usually more complicated than that, and I hesitate to rush to judgement on anybody in a difficult situation.

 

[JeannaT]

Very true, many people do not know about this option. Any many people also do not trust it and believe that could still be connected in some way or even penalized.

thanks to the poster that posted the map. I don't know if that's the exact location but thank goodness there was a walking path and someone was walking by and heard the child.

I personally, in Texas have never seen the safe haven law work for anyone.

There's always SOMETHING they didn't do right, and LE is looking for them.

The most recent one I remember, a girl took a baby in to a hospital, placed the baby in a carrier on the reception counter, and turned and walked out.

They were looking for her because she didn't "announce" she was dropping the baby under the protection of the law. Really???

I've honestly never heard of a case where the mother was able to make it work in her favor. Has anyone?

In theory, it's great. In practice, in my experience, it lures young women in with the idea that they will be able to anonymously give their baby up for adoption but that doesn't happen.

 

[gitana1]

Ya, the first link posted here must have been updated because they have identified the mother as an 18 year old (with her name). I truly believe these females should be jailed and have it very public. Hopefully it will reach one girl who was thinking of doing the same and make her drop the baby off at a Safe Haven location.

I agree, but LE needs to take the opportunity to educate about the law.

I just kind of don't see an excuse for leaving your newborn baby to be be torn apart by animals. It's horrible.

I personally, in Texas have never seen the safe haven law work for anyone.

There's always SOMETHING they didn't do right, and LE is looking for them.

The most recent one I remember, a girl took a baby in to a hospital, placed the baby in a carrier on the reception counter, and turned and walked out.

They were looking for her because she didn't "announce" she was dropping the baby under the protection of the law. Really???

I've honestly never heard of a case where the mother was able to make it work in her favor. Has anyone?

In theory, it's great. In practice, in my experience, it lures young women in with the idea that they will be able to anonymously give their baby up for adoption but that doesn't happen.

Seriously? That is not right. Can't we just be relieved that another baby wasn't left to die?

 

[momtective]

I applaud the young couple that found her...see video. http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/newborn-girl-found-alive-in-woods

 

[jjenny]

I find it hard to believe an 18 yr old would not have heard of this. She had 9 months to consider her options and would have checked into them. Unless she was home schooled and had no internet access in combination with no support system I think it was a selfish thing to do. I am of the opinion she was willing to sacrifice the baby to save face.
Not doubting that many kids don't know about safe haven but feel like with access to info on line and friends at school a pregnant 18 yr old would find out. A pregnant 12 yr old might not but this girl was too old to have an excuse.

And even if they don't know about safe heaven laws, I would think just common sense should tell them leaving baby in the woods is not o'key. That couple which found this child almost left but decided to return.
If nobody found this baby she could very well have ended up dead.

 

[SapphireSteel]

The young couple that found her do seem to be a pair of angels for that little baby.

I note also they say they do not judge the mother, as they do not know her circumstances. It's a shame not everyone feels that way.

Young people like this give me hope for our world.

 

[Oblio]

Something sticks out to me, they are saying that the baby is between three days and a week old. The couple who found her said she seemed cared for. They were there because she wanted to show her boyfriend a place she hung out at as a child.

Do you think it's possible her mother hid her there with intention to come back and get her? She was wrapped up, fed, and placed between two logs where she could not move. Perhaps it was a place she felt was secure, maybe she played there as a child, and she was still scared/in denial of the depth of her situation, and was still trying to figure out how she was going to tell.

That doesn't excuse the action, but I think there's a chance that this was very poor judgement, and not cold-hearted abandonment.

 

[JeannaT]

Something sticks out to me, they are saying that the baby is between three days and a week old. The couple who found her said she seemed cared for. They were there because she wanted to show her boyfriend a place she hung out at as a child.

Do you think it's possible her mother hid her there with intention to come back and get her? She was wrapped up, fed, and placed between two logs where she could not move. Perhaps it was a place she felt was secure, maybe she played there as a child, and she was still scared/in denial of the depth of her situation, and was still trying to figure out how she was going to tell.

That doesn't excuse the action, but I think there's a chance that this was very poor judgement, and not cold-hearted abandonment.

That occurred to me too - that the mother had left her there and was returning to take care of her.

 

[peeples]

That would fit in with the mom being charged with abuse, not abandonment

 

[jjenny]

She is charged with felony child neglect.
http://www.wvec.com/news/Infant-discovered-in-York-Co-woods-170857991.html

 

[michmi]

That may be. It may be deliberate attempted murder. But life is usually more complicated than that, and I hesitate to rush to judgement on anybody in a difficult situation.

I understand what you are saying, but leaving a baby to die in the woods is different from hiding your report card (do they even have those anymore, lol) from your parents.

An 18-year-old . Have we infantalized young women and men so much we can't expect them to have any common sense?

Saving face on the back of a dead baby is too much for me to excuse. I don't even care about what her thought process might be, it makes no difference. At worst she's a sociopath and at best she's an idiot.

 

[JeannaT]

I still have so many questions. How did they know the baby was hers?

It seems to me if she wanted the baby to die, she would have killed her, put her in a couple plastic sacks and placed her in a public dumpster.

I'm also unclear about the area. When I google map it, I see a neighborhood, not a woodsy "swamp". This looks like a vacant tree filled area within a neighborhood to me.

 

[michmi]

She turned herself in according to one of the articles.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/newborn-girl-found-alive-in-woods

 

[Cazzie]

I don't know what the mother's circumstances were/are.

4 good things: she wrapped her baby in a towel, placed her between 2 logs (presumably so she wouldn't roll over or even for some level of protection?), she turned herself in to police within 8 hours of the baby being found, and before she was identified...thus saving some (but not all) resources to find the mother.

I'm just wondering WTH was going on between the birth and the abandonment (well, also during the pregnancy). I hope there are not drugs involved (for all's sake) but it mite explain the choices made.

 

[Oblio]

Yep, the more and more I think about this, the more I am sure that the baby wasn't the least bit abandoned. Subjected to very poor choices, yes, abandoned, no.

This young woman probably hid her pregnancy, her labor, the child's birth, and then the child (for up to a week). But after that time, the child was found healthy, fed, and nestled between two logs, a block's distance from her mother's home. She was coming back. She was probably going to come feed and change her, then some time later, sneak her home to sleep beside her. She has even turned herself in promptly. I think this is the case of a truly scared young mother, scared out of her better judgment for what ever reason, but all the same, a young mother whom I even dare say, loves her child.

 

[carbuff]

I understand what you are saying, but leaving a baby to die in the woods is different from hiding your report card (do they even have those anymore, lol) from your parents.

An 18-year-old . Have we infantalized young women and men so much we can't expect them to have any common sense?

Saving face on the back of a dead baby is too much for me to excuse. I don't even care about what her thought process might be, it makes no difference. At worst she's a sociopath and at best she's an idiot.

There but for the grace of God go I. I'm not trying to excuse her. Compassion doesn't mean pretending nothing happened; if she's guilty, she should be held accountable. But I know I did some incredibly stupid things at that age and was lucky enough that none of them had such dire consequences.

 

[michmi]

I have compassion only for the poor baby. I swear I don't know what has happened to older teens/20s age people, they have all the decision-making skills of 4-year-olds. Grace of God my foot. If it turns out she is truly mentally challenged I'll muster up some compassion.

Actually, even a 4-year-old wouldn't leave her baby doll in the woods wrapped in a blanket, would she?

 

[JeannaT]

I have compassion only for the poor baby. I swear I don't know what has happened to older teens/20s age people, they have all the decision-making skills of 4-year-olds. Grace of God my foot. If it turns out she is truly mentally challenged I'll muster up some compassion.

Actually, even a 4-year-old wouldn't leave her baby doll in the woods wrapped in a blanket, would she?

From my perspective, this worked out 100% in the baby's favor.

No harm came whatsoever to the baby during this time, and now she's got a shot at a good upbringing with an intact family.

Other single teenage mothers with no partner usually do a much lesser job - they believe erroneously that they can parent the child, and the child leads a life of poverty and abuse with one boyfriend after another. Meanwhile, there's no overt abuse like leaving the child for a few hours in the woods clean and fed - there's a lifetime of unhappy, inadequate care that results in the child still living with the mother instead of being placed in a more adequate home.

I don't think the baby has been harmed one iota - in fact, through this odd act of neglect, the baby has been given a chance at a good life.

And as a Christian, I agree with the girl who found her. That couple was there in the woods for a purpose, and were able to participate in their act of mercy on this healthy thriving baby. I do think, though, that considering this was apparently a walking path in a nice neighborhood, and this is the most lovely time of year, it's very very likely that if the baby were truly abandoned it's howls for food in the coming day would have attracted other path walkers.

 

[jjenny]

I wouldn't be so sure. I don't have any doubt CPS is going to try to re-unify this child (if not with the mother herself-although it's quite possible they will even try to re-unify child with the mother) then with her relatives.