Poverty, prostitution, abortion – reasons for baby dumping
Baby abandonment is a complex problem in South Africa and there seems to be no clear solution.
The City Times recently spoke to some organisations handling abandoned children and unplanned pregnancies.
“A lot of people judge the mothers and say ‘she’s a murderer, why would she do that?’ but when you meet them, you realise they are desperate, in a way most people don’t know,” said Charmaine McQueen, founder and director of The Almond Tree Baby Home.
“Many of the mothers who abandon their babies are mentally unstable.
“Or they and their children are starving, or the father left or they are often prostitutes.
“It’s not a mother who decided to be a murderer.
“For a mother in that position, who is reading this article, I want her to know there is help.
“If she chooses to abandon her baby, it’s a crime, and there are other options.”
The Almond Tree Baby Home was started to direct and encourage adoptions, as the law makes the process difficult, according to McQueen.
She said about 1 400 children are adopted in South Africa annually, while there are millions of orphans in the country.
“The Children’s Act is missing a crucial piece of legislation, which has led to adoptions in South Africa being privatised and a very specialised thing – making it very expensive,” McQueen said.
“It excludes many people who would make good parents, but don’t have the money to adopt.
“The Minister of Social Development has started the process to change legislation to allow for less costly adoptions.”
According to McQueen, another limitation is the tendency not to adopt cross-culturally.
“For a white family to adopt a black child or vice versa, is not culturally acceptable for many people,” she said.
“The National Adoption Coalition (NAC) have looked at a way of marketing adoptions in a way to get around this.
“They are employing Ubuntu, saying children are our children as a nation, and it’s our responsibility to take care of them all.”
Life Link Pregnancy Crisis Centre, based in Kempton Park, helps women with unplanned pregnancies.
Sharon Rushton, director of the organisation, said there are a number of reasons why babies are abandoned.
“They (mothers) are pressured by their partner or do it out of fear for their parents, in the case of teenage pregnancies,” she said.
“Illegal abortions are a factor in the problem.
“Women often get late-term abortions, then they leave the baby somewhere.
“There are a growing number of abandonments in the East Rand; late last year in Kempton Park, six babies were found within seven weeks, though that’s unusual.”
Rushton said the pregnancy crisis centre sometimes sees 12-year-olds who are pregnant.
According to her, abandonment is a complex problem with no straightforward solution.
“Perhaps we need more baby homes; perhaps education is the key: to let people know there are places that can help them,” Rushton concluded.
“Some homes have baby safes where babies can be placed, giving the mother anonymity.”
Elsie Labuschagne, director of the Greater Benoni Child Welfare (GBCW), gave several reasons why babies are often abandoned:
• Socio-economic circumstances of the parent, guardian or care-giver
• Age of the parent
• Dependency on drugs or alcohol
• Fathers not taking responsibility for their children
• Prostitution
• Foreign nationals who are not able to take care of their children.
“In February we had two abandoned babies, one found at the back of a school wrapped in a plastic bag and one was found by police in the veld,” said Labuschagne.
The director said there are facilities where mothers can leave the babies, such as churches, police stations or shelters. Or they can come and see a social worker – either at the hospitals, the Department of Social Development, or at babies’ and children’s homes.
Some of the other babies’ and children’s homes in the East Rand are:
• Tutela
• Ondersteuningsraad
• House Thandi.
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