Door of Hope

Abandoned Babies

Some time ago, it came to our attention that in greater Johannesburg alone, 40 to 50 babies are abandoned every month and left to die of starvation or exposure.

Text taken from Kate Allen, from The Door of Hope... "In August 1999 we installed a "hole in the wall" or "baby bin" in the wall of the Mission Church, where babies can be placed 24 hours a day. A sensor alerts the people in the house whenever a newcomer has arrived. We will come to fetch the baby and will thereafter begin caring for him/her."

"However, not all babies come through the "door of hope". Sometimes the police bring them or a desperate mother will hand over her baby personally, or hospitals phone us to pick up little ones, whose mothers have disappeared after the delivery, leaving their babies behind. If the mother is available to counsel with, we then take her through (if she agrees) to the Commissioner of Child Welfare in order that she can sign the baby over for adoption. This cuts down on the time the baby has to spend with us before going for adoption. Within the first few weeks we get the inoculations up to date and by two months of age an adoption medical and blood tests for HIV Syphilis and Hepatitis B."

"Once all these are in place the baby can be available for a family and the matching begins!! By June 2007 we had helped over 560 babies about 50 of whom came through the hole in the wall, and almost 200 have gone for adoption."

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