CZECH REPUBLIC: Town on Polish border allowing mothers from any country to place unwanted newborns in a baby box, for adoption as Czech citizens

Record ID: 765389

  • Title: CZECH REPUBLIC: Town on Polish border allowing mothers from any country to place unwanted newborns in a baby box, for adoption as Czech citizens
  • Date: 21st May 2009
  • Summary: NACHOD, CZECH REPUBLIC (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NACHOD TOWN SKYLINE FORMER BORDER BETWEEN POLAND AND CZECH REPUBLIC POLISH (LEFT), EUROPEAN UNION (MIDDLE), CZECH (RIGHT) FLAGS NACHOD HOSPITAL AMBULANCE DRIVING OUT OF HOSPITAL GATE VARIOUS OF "BABY BOX" ON SIDE OF HOSPITAL WALL SIGN WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE "BABY BOX" IN FOUR LANGUAGES (CZECH, POLISH, RUS
  • Embargoed: 5th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Czech Republic
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA2LST0G1SOLFCPIKOFFP31Z3CS
  • Story Text: A Czech town on the border with Poland is allowing mothers from any country to deposit their unwanted newborns in a baby box built into its hospital wall for adoption as Czech citizens.
    The baby deposit box in the town of Nachod, is seen as a solution for mothers who may, for a variety of reasons, not feel able to keep their baby.
    There are around 25 similar facilities in the Czech Republic and the one in Nachod would not be unusual if not for one reason - mothers from nearby Polish cities can leave their babies there too.
    The idea of a deposit box for unwanted babies may prove more attractive for women from the mostly Catholic Poland, where abortion laws are tight and abandoned babies found in dumpsters are not unheard of.
    Mothers can anonymously leave their baby in the box. An alarm sounds in the hospital, where the deposit box is located, alerting staff immediately to a newborn's presence in the box.
    Instructions on how to use the system are in four languages: Czech, Polish, Russian and English.
    Doctor Ludek Tyce says that the system in Nachod and other places serve both the mother and her child.
    "This is mainly for those mothers, who don't want, cannot or are unable to provide care for their newborn baby. It is better than the baby ending up in a garbage container," Tyce said.
    The hospital's spokesman, Lukas Holub, said it was irrelevant where the deposited baby was from.
    "We think that it's very important for this group of unwanted babies. We think, that in this case there are no borders. We don't care who needs to leave their baby in the "Baby Box", if they are Czech, Polish, Slovak or American," said the hospitals spokesman Lukas Holub.
    The babies are registered as EU Czech citizens regardless of their mother's nationality and given up for adoption in the Czech Republic.
    Polish sociologist Krzysztof Lecki, from the Silesia University in Katowice, said that the importance of nationality will continue to diminish in an EU without borders.
    "In the process of socialisation, the features that nationality forces upon a child will disappear. The child will grow up to be a legitimate citizen of the culture which it grew up in, it will acquire the qualities which dominate in that culture. And if there is anything in the genes, it will decide about the fate of the individual regardless of national affiliation, or citizenship of the parents."
    Lecki said membership to the European Union has allowed for easier movement across borders.
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