SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Since 2003, a total of 49 parents have given up their newborn babies by dropping them off at designated locations throughout San Diego County.
The numbers reflect the ongoing issue of infant abandonment and the goal to prevent the deaths of unwanted infants by offering safe places for parents or guardians to surrender the child.
States such as Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, as well as several others, have passed bills allowing the installation of small incubators at fire stations and other authorized locations.
According to records obtained by CBS 8, San Diego County's program has taken nearly 50 infants since state lawmakers passed the "Safe Arms for Newborns" law in 2001.
Under California’s law, parents can legally and safely give up their baby at any hospital or fire station within 72 hours of birth, no questions asked.
State lawmakers passed the law to stop what at the time was an increase in unwanted babies found outside in the elements, severely injured and in many cases dead.
To prevent the deaths of unwanted infants, the parent or legal guardian is legally allowed to surrender their baby at designated hospitals or fire stations county wide. While doing so, the parent or guardian is given a bracelet that allows them to return within 14 days to reclaim the baby if they so choose. At no time does the parent or guardian ever have to give their identity nor a reason or explanation as to why they were giving up their infant.
In San Diego County, the data shows a slight uptick in the annual average of surrenders since the law was enacted with 2023 recording the largest number of infants (4) surrenders in more than six years.
As for where in San Diego County the most unwanted babies are surrendered, the data shows Tri-City Medical Center in Vista has accepted nine infants since 2003, while Scripps Mercy saw the second highest number with seven during the same time.
Dr. Kimberly Giardina runs San Diego County's Child and Family Well-Being Department which oversees the Safe Arms for Newborns program.
Dr. Giardina says that the program, while rarely used compared to the number of births countywide, is vital to ensuring the safety of the infant.
"It's important to remember that this is probably a really hard decision for parents to make," Dr. Giardina told CBS 8. "The program is designed to help ensure that we have safe and healthy babies, even when parents might be in a situation that upon delivery, they feel like they really can't care for that baby."
Dr. Giardina says the fact that authorities still report cases of abandoned babies means anonymity for parents or guardians and assurances that they won't be charged with crimes is needed for the program to succeed.
"The law is designed to create an anonymous and confidential way that parents can acknowledge that maybe they can't care for the baby, they can drop off the baby at one of the safely surrendered sites, most common hospitals or fire stations, and then that allows that child to be to start the process of being adopted," said Dr. Giardina.
If the guardian does not return for the baby within 14 days then the county begins the adoption process, and finding a permanent home for the infant.
