Two babies surrendered under Iowa’s Safe Haven Law in March

By Web staff

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Two babies were surrendered in March under the state of Iowa’s Safe Haven Law.

The law, which went into effect more than 20 years ago, allows parents in crisis who determine they cannot care for an infant to be able to surrender their child up to 90 days old at designated sites like hospitals and fire stations. The surrendering parents are then protected from prosecution for abandonment.

According to the state, a baby girl born March 17 and a baby boy born March 20 are now in the custody of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and will be placed with foster families until they are adopted. The two babies were the first to be surrendered in 2024.

In 2023, 10 infants were surrendered under the Safe Haven Law. In total, since the law went into effect, 68 infants have been surrendered.

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