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In Alabama, adoptive parents can get permanent custody of the child within six weeks, says Mancuso. That’s a rapid timeline in a country where most adoptions can take a year or longer.
Still, for many, baby boxes are not a reminder of a tragedy for a woman who carried a baby, gave birth alone, and then abandoned that child. Instead, they’re seen with joy.
“It’s a fun thing for our foster and adoptive workers,” Mancuso says. Families who want to adopt usually want babies, and through these surrenders, care workers can make a family’s dream come true. “We have a lot of families who are interested in these children,” she says, “and we want to serve those families and serve those children.”
The downside to baby boxes
Compared with other safe-haven options, the value of baby boxes is an open question. Micah Orliss, a psychologist and founder of the Safe Surrender Clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, argues that leaving a baby in a box does not add any benefit to the current safe-haven system in many states, in which a mother engages in a “warm handoff,” surrendering her baby to a medical professional or EMT.