Baby safe drop box opens in Calgary

Seven years after the Bowness child abandonment incident, Calgary welcomed its first safe drop-off site for babies.

On Monday morning, two organizations – Gems for Gems and Cradle of Hope – will open the city's new baby drop box.

It provides a safe, warm place for new parents to hide their biological child.

The casket will be placed in the community of Montgomery, not far from Bowness, where a newborn baby was found dead in a rubbish bin on Boxing Day 2017.

Jordan Guildford, founder of Gems for Gems, says there are many reasons why someone can't care for their child, which is why it's so important to have sites like this.

“There's also a lot of malice towards women choosing this option and it's the exact opposite of what we feel – not just Gems for Gems, but Baby Cottage and their whole team – about women choosing this very brave person and a heartbreaking option” , he said.

“I want the community to understand that we can't understand what this woman is going through, and instead of judging, let's be grateful that she chose this option instead of other anonymous options that are less safe.”

The box contains a variety of information about the crib and physical and mental supports for birth parents.

Once opened, it sounds the alarm and rushes the authorities to respond within minutes.

It also includes paper for parents to write letters to their child.

That's important, Guilford said, because research has found that children with closed adoptions have many unanswered questions about their identity when they grow up.

“One of our psychologists working with us said this. Often in closed adoptions, we see where they come from and who their parents are, with children who don't know any of their lineage, and later have an identity crisis,” she explained. “So we wanted to do our best to address that.”

She also adds that any large city like Calgary should have multiple baby drop-off sites, and she hopes to bring one to each quadrant.