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BabyBoxes open doors for unwanted children to better life
Published: 26 July, 2010, 07:38
Edited: 03 August, 2010, 04:54
TAGS: Children, Health, Europe
Simple metal doors can be seen all around the Czech Republic on the sides of hospitals and governmental buildings. But these doors have opened the way to a better life for dozens of abandoned children.
The metal containers behind the doors are BabyBoxes. If a mother wants to leave her child, all she had have to do would be to pull on the handle and put him or her inside. An infant can survive in such a box for several hours, but usually is picked up within minutes by those on the other side.
The first one was placed in a private hospital in Prague. It's still the most popular, with nearly 15 children left there in five years.
“As soon as the baby is placed inside, the door locks on the outside, and an alarm is set off,” a private hospital doctor said. “I remember running to the box for the first time to see the baby inside and showing it to the doctor to be examined. It felt special. I think it is an amazing invention.”
The BabyBox inventor is not a doctor, but a writer and horse breeder. But his idea was not immediately well-received, with protests from some clergymen and even doctors.
“Though the BabyBox is high-tech, with 300 electronic parts, special places to leave unwanted children existed even in ancient times. But the government was wary of the BabyBox, and did not provide funding, as if I was encouraging people to get rid of their children. Now, the perception has changed,” BabyBox Inventor Ludvik Hess told RT.
Bretislav and Krestina have dated for two years. Although they can have children of their own, they would also like to adopt a BabyBox child.
“I come from a big family – three brothers, 30 cousins, so I like children,” Bretislav Svoboda said.
They do not know where or when, but sure enough it is a matter of time before someone's unwanted child will become a welcome addition to their family.
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