(FeaturedNews.com) – In January in Ocala, Florida, a firefighter responded to a 2 a.m. alarm coming from the department’s Safe Haven Baby Box.
Safe Haven laws were first implemented in the late ‘90s across the United States. Every single state in the country has Safe Haven laws, which decriminalize the act of surrendering unharmed infants to the state.
Baby boxes are typically placed in fire stations, EMS locations, and hospitals and provide a safe haven for surrendering infants, no questions asked. These boxes are meant to help prevent people from leaving newborn babies in unsafe locations such as dumpsters or outdoors.
Monica Kelsey, who was adopted, created the Safe Haven Box when she was 37 years old. At the time she had found out the circumstances of her conception. As she has shared she was conceived during a rape and then abandoned as an infant. This personal fact led her to advocate for infants that found themselves in similar circumstances.
The firefighter revealed in an interview with TODAY.com that at first, he believed it was a “false alarm” but that when he opened the box he could see a “healthy baby girl” in a “pink blanket.” While the box had first been installed in 2020, this was the first time that a newborn had been surrendered to the box.
As the firefighter recalled, he fell in love with the little girl immediately. He noted that she had a “little bottle” and was just lying in the box. He then picked her up, held her, and the moment their eyes locked, he knew that he loved her.
The firefighter shared that he and his wife had been struggling with fertility for over a decade. They had completed all the necessary steps to be eligible to adopt; they just needed a baby. He knew immediately that this child was the answer to their prayers. When he surrendered her to the local hospital, he left a note with her expressing his intent to adopt her.
After two days of anticipation, they finally received an answer and brought their new daughter, Zoey, home.
WATCH:
Copyright 2023, FeaturedNews.com
