In Germany and some other European countries there are things called 'Babyklappe'.

http://tinyurl.com/27rqaa

These are basically holes in a wall (usually a catholic or protestant hospital) where a mother can 'deposit' her new born in total anonymity.

If she doesn't reclaim the baby then after 8 weeks its given up for adoption.

So really its the old idea of unwanted babies being left on the steps of a church or monastery.

This idea has become particularly relevant in Germany due to a recent spat of mothers killing their new borns (28 cases in the first 3 months of this year)..

As most of you know I'm violently Pro Life and while the Babyklappe worries me , on the whole I think its a good idea and I'd like to see it spread throughout the world.

I'd be interested to hear your views. Especially from those who view abortion differently than I do.

But then what are you going to tell the kid when he/she is 18 and wants to find his/her parents? Do you tell them that she got left behind anonymously, and they don't even know her real name?

Seems its good in the short term, but its still pretty fucked.

I think it's quite a disturbing idea, and it looks like some sinster kind of bank.. but then again, I'd rather abandoned babies are deposited somewhere safe.
I've been thinking, I'd be quite happy if someone left their baby on my doorstep to be raised; I could look after it myself.. but I just have a romantic turn of mind, and I like the classic tales.
I think having a babybank means that some women will contemplate something they might not have done otherwise.. ie giving their baby up entirely. If these things didn't exist, do you think the number of abandonment cases would fall? Often new mothers in the blur of the moment do silly or crazy things, or so movies and soaps would have me believe. Postpartum depression etc.

This is a very valid point, which is a matter for some debate in Germany. Under german law a child has the Right to know its parentage.

There have also been cases of fathers forcing the mother to give up the baby. In one case thrice by the same man.

In most hospitals here in the US, there is a bassinet in the Emergency Room entrances for unwanted infants. Same idea.. Just not so.. cold? I mean, fuck.. They're infants.. human beings.. Not a bank deposit..

While it does break my heart that hospitals have to have a place to take abandoned babies, I do think it is the best idea.. It's a lot better than having frantic mothers feeling forced to kill their children.. I just wish that it didn't have to be this way..

Yes me too :(

In the UK it seems it is accepted practice for mother to leave their unwanted babies in plastic bags in the trash in the Ladies Public toilet.

WE OUGHT TO PUT THE POOR CHILDREN TO WORK
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t153/demik_2007/ohhiram.jpg

Hmm... It's an interesting idea. Normally I wouldn't think that giving people such an easy way to give up their babies is a good idea. But since they have the ability to reclaim them, and because of the killings, it's actually a pretty good idea. I'd like to see it in more places although I would be worried about possible abuse of the system.

And it might also reduce the number of abortions. I support the ability for mothers to abort, but it's still a bit too frequent. If the system works well in the countries that have already adopted it, I'd like to see it in many more places around the world.

I think the idea, if modified, is a better one than killing infants. It seems dropping a baby in a hole is a little cruel.
Someone said something earlier about how the kid would try to find it's parents once they got older, but wouldn't be able to...
I was an abandoned kid who will have little or no chance to find her parents...
I honestly don't care, actually. There's a shitload of abandoned kids in America, who were dumped in dumpsters or left on doorsteps.
I think those kids are just grateful someone gave them a home and a name.
Your parent isn't your parent if they gave birth to you. They're your parent cause they wiped your ass, feed you,sheltered you, dealt with your bullshit when they didn't have to. Why in the hell would you want to look for the "parent" who dropped you in a fucking hole? They're no more your parent than some person who walks by you in a supermarket.

Can I dump a raw turkey in there after I've ravaged it's fuck hole?

@Jane Doe: If I could ever be bothered to mess around with changing rep, you would be losing some for that, good sir. As it is, you'll have to live with my headshake of shame... shame! :)

OP: In Australia, we have adoption agencies. I'm not quite sure how the system runs, but basically before the kid is born the parent(s) make the decision to put it up for adoption. The parents details are taken, but it is fairly anonymous, depending on the parents wishes.
But it's run through people, not just dropping the babe in a slot... that just seems kind of... inhumane to me. I mean, It's a kid, not a bloody letter-bomb.

And who checks these things? How often? What if they forgot to check for a few days?! Blarg, I foresee dead baby pics... please refrain :)

When a deposit is made an alarm sounds in the Children's Ward and a nurse comes to collect the baby. Also once the baby has been deposited the flap cannot be reopened (to stop someone stealing the baby).

Well that clears that concern up. Cheers Ketch.

Onwards to concern #2:
Well what is it like? Because right now I'm imagining a mail chute thing, and I can't see it being much fun for the wee one sliding down a metal tube into a box...

I am incredibly pro-choice over-all and I believe this to be a good idea. I think women should have the choice to do what they wish, but at least this way the child is born and can have some sort of a life.

What confuses me is that when the woman has the child, is there not some kind of record of its birth? Surely it'll look a bit suspicious when a women who's just given birth on record turns out to not have a baby the next day.

Zaknafein.

It's a good idea if it stops the alturnative of mothers resorting to killing their children. Pretty harsh though :(

Is abortion legal in Germany?

Depends whether she 'registered' the pregnancy. Teenage mothers/daughters of turks often don't and have their babies in secret.

Very very much so. You can get an abortion simply on the grounds (for example) that you'd have to miss a holiday. There was a lot of scandal about that one a few years back. And in the Old DDR a woman could get an on demand abortion without giving a reason up to the third month I believe.

It's like that here in the US. Abortion clinic personell don't ask for a reason or a justification...Nor should they.

I don't want this thread derailed into a soap box slanging , so please try and keep the POV's about abortion itself down, 'kay?

ps. my "There was a lot of scandal about that one a few years back" comment was simply my way of telling kAtE that there are no doubt sources for my somewhat amazing claim as to what is considered a valid reason in Germany and wasn't a POV comment. She knows from experience that i don't tend to bother with sources unless she asks.

good idea.

the type of person who would abandon their baby like that doesnt need to be raising children anyways. At least this way the kid has a much better chance at a decent lifestyle and becoming a productive member of society.

never sleep with a woman that doesn't believe in abortion.

Only reason the little shits would want to know their 'real' parents is to claim a share of their stuff when they leap off the mortal coil. Such bullshit

Actually no, in Germany there is another reason..that's if they haven't changed the law recently.

You see unlike many countries, just being born in Germany doesn't automatically make you a national. Inorder to get German citizenship there is a also a bloodline issue.

I'd be interested to hear your views. Especially from those who view abortion differently than I do.

i only read half of page one so this very well could have already been said, but whatever.

i would be willing to have an abortion, but i could never give a child up for adoption. I don't believe that a fetus is a child until you start really bonding with it inside of you (ie when it starts moving and you feel like its your childso i only believe in earlyterm abortions; but to each their own). if i spent a whole 9 months with a child that i could feel inside of me, that i pushed out from my womb, that i heard cry and say take its first breath, i could never let that child go no matter what situation i was in. i could never carry that child in my arms and walk over to a 'deposit bank' and just carelessly toss it in.

i am not saying this is a bad idea by any means because not all people are like me and this is much better than the child being killed for no reason. i just thought i could give you insight into a prochoice opinion jack ;)

As a couple of other posters already stated, in most states in the USA they have a "no questions asked" policy if anyone brings a newborn into a hospital claiming they are unable to take care of it. I think it may have some kind of age restrictions for the kid, but don't know for certain.

The truth is, it is just a feel-good policy that has very little effect over here. You are still hearing about babies born that are abandoned in dumpsters, suffocated by its mother's or any other horrific tale. Perhaps the media isn't reporting the "drop-offs" as much as the other grotesque scenarios, but from what they are telling us the ratio doesn't even come close.

Its a good idea in theory, but the practical application doesn't exist very often over here. Then again we are known as the "disposable" country, so it could have a lot to do with our general mindset in all aspects of life.

As most of you know I'm violently Pro Life


So, you are violently Pro-taking care of other people's lives?

How interesting. The world is overpopulated. And whilst i hate that abortions are happening in my country, my beloved germany, i can't do anything about it.

If they want to take the baby out, then that is because they didn't want to have it in the first place.

It is a complicated issue. I suggest bringing back the Mutterkreuz. Perhaps the british OP knows what im talking about.

I'm pro-choice. The way I see it: If the babies stay with their parents when they don't want them their life will be equally fucked. Imagine growing up and never feeling loved or wanted. I'd feel pretty shitty by the time I got to be however old.

I'd much rather have someone who loves and wants a child raising them than some irresponsible teenagers who fucked around and got burned, ya me? The whole reason I like the concept of abortion is so teenagers don't have to raise children. Everyone makes mistakes, and though some of you don't count "childbirth" as a mistake, some do.

I don't want this thread derailed into a soap box slanging , so please try and keep the POV's about abortion itself down, 'kay?

ps. my "There was a lot of scandal about that one a few years back" comment was simply my way of telling kAtE that there are no doubt sources for my somewhat amazing claim as to what is considered a valid reason in Germany and wasn't a POV comment. She knows from experience that i don't tend to bother with sources unless she asks.

I wasn't soapboxing, I was stating a fact and then my agreement towards the policy. I only mentioned it because you mentioned german policy and I didn't know if you were aware of the US laws./shrug

Damn man, that's fucked up.

That seems pretty sad. If you go the distance of birthing the kid, you might as well keep the bloody thing!

If I had a kid, and for some reason birthed it rather than terminated, I wouldnt just dump it.
I'd sell it.

That may sound callous, but if someone is willing to pay upwards of £100,000 for a kid, they're not really likely to be the sort to butcher it instantly and throw it in the ocean.

If you pay that amount of money for something, it shows you really want it.

I'm going to start my own business.

it would be rather helpful, but dangerous, numbers of people giving up their babies willy nilly would surely rise and where will all these children go? there aren't enough foster carers or people willing to adopt as it is(probably because adopting is such a huge hassle, it took my uncle's sister two years to adopt a little girl she'd been fostering for two years since the day she was born. they're not even bothering to adopt anymore, just fostering. and the kids get chucked around from home to home, even the little babies noone seems to want for any longer than a few months)
not too long ago, someone put a baby in the priest's porch :/

I don't want this thread derailed into a soap box slanging , so please try and keep the POV's about abortion itself down, 'kay?

ps. my "There was a lot of scandal about that one a few years back" comment was simply my way of telling kAtE that there are no doubt sources for my somewhat amazing claim as to what is considered a valid reason in Germany and wasn't a POV comment. She knows from experience that i don't tend to bother with sources unless she asks.

Nigga, please: http://www.seenontvproducts.net/ultimatechopperblender/Ultimate%20Chopper%20Blender.jpg
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I sort of agree with this but; I think these deposit boxes for babies are an "ambulance at the bottom of a cliff" scenario. Whoever had the baby obviously wasn't in a good situation in life to be raising a child, therefore the pregnancy should have, and perhaps easily could have been avoided altogether.
Urgh, does this make sense?

Uhhhh, here in the USA they have that, except it is at any hospital, fire station, state child facility, or police station, no questions asked. Not just some monastery.

Also, this is absolutely a good thing. If it weren't for these things more women would have children that aren't ready for them, and more women would kill their children at birth.

I myself would never be able to just toss a baby out like that. Having said that, I think this is a good idea and another alternative to abortion (I'm still pro-choice). The thing about being pro-choice is that you want them to have choices, and I'd rather a loving family adopt the kid then a terrible mother raise the kid.

That's a good idea but there should be a way to track down the mother.

Avoid this problem all together and encourage abortions.

Hell at least it isnt A Modest Proposal. Hehe. Go check out that book. The main idea is that you eat your child for population control. If someone already mentioned this I didn't read any other part of the thread.

Brilliant. Anything is better than abortion.

i much rather them drop off the babies at a church...much more than dropping them in garbage can...and that has happened a lot,at least this way the kid gets a shot a life...and being how the baby had no say in its being born...at least it can go to people who want him/her

Until some perverted freak sneaks in the door and eats them