In a case of something being too successful, the Guangzhou Baby Hatch, which opened in January, is closing its doors after being flooded with abandoned babies.
Staff at the facility, where parents can drop off babies they don’t want with the understanding they will be cared for, say they were overwhelmed with the number of babies being dropped off.
Since opening, 261 babies were left at the facility, according to UPI:
Using a “baby hatch,” a person can bring a baby to the facility, which is equipped with an incubator, a bed and an air conditioner. The baby is placed inside and an alarm button is activated. The person then leaves and welfare officials retrieve the baby within 10 minutes.
There were signs the Guangzhou baby hatch would be well-used only a few weeks after it opened. As we reported in February:
The baby hatch, located in front of the Guangzhou Social Welfare Institute, is about 50 meters away from the Welfare Institute’s security room. So far the abandoned babies range from two days to five years old, with many suffering from diseases or other abnormalities like a cleft lip and palate, cerebral palsy, congenital heart disease and down’s syndrome. Of the 33 dropped off, there were 22 boys and 11 girls. Two have been taken to hospital for medical care, two over-aged kids have been sent to relief stations and the rest have been checked by doctors and appear to be stable.
The Guardian says abandoning a baby in China is illegal, but some parents feel they have no other option:
Xu Jiu, the director of the Guangzhou Child Welfare Centre, said it had taken in 262 children since it opened on 28 January. All the babies – 67% of whom were less than a year old – had varying degrees of illness. More than 90% survived.
The influx of children has nearly doubled the centre’s workload, Xu said, preventing it from offering every baby appropriate care. The centre, which has 1,000 beds, is currently sheltering 1,100 children.
There are now dozens of baby hatch facilities in China, including one in Shenzhen.