TIME New's reported that Germany's first Baby Hatch was set up by the charity SterniPark after the "discovery of a dead baby on a treadmill at a recycling plant" (Paramaguru). Baby Hatches, are incubated safe spots where parents can anonymously drop off infants to be cared for. These Hatches can be found mostly at churches, hospitals and non-profit organizations.  The Hatch opens from the outside and once a baby is placed inside the incubated crib an alarm goes off after a few minutes alerting the proper authorities, while the mother has time to leave without being seen. The child is taken care of and put into foster care for up to eight weeks, in this time the mother has the opportunity to return for her child (Burrows). After eight weeks, the child is put up for adoption. The idea of anonymously leaving ones child in the care of others is not a new idea by any means. In the Middle Ages if a family was not able to care for a child they would be left in what was called a foundling wheel. Many villages had foundling wheels present until the churches could no longer handle the amount of infants being placed under their care and had to shut down. Baby Hatches are life saving devices for helpless newborns and needed as a last resort in today's imperfect society but critics see them as a barbaric method of child abandonment due to personal beliefs largely influenced by religion or judging the entire operation by those who abuse it.

The use of Baby Hatches has recently returned and can be found in many countries including Germany, Pakistan, Japan and South Africa. The country that seems to have the most amount and use of Baby Hatches is China. There are many different laws about the abandonment of infants but these countries provide the Hatches with the intent that if a family is not able to care for an infant, they can surrender the child anonymously instead of the alternatives. When baby hatches are not available many parents turn to extreme measures to rid themselves of the child. The unfortunate alternatives parents turn to are infanticide, the murder of an infant, and hiding the child in the streets, usually a trash can, with the hopes that someone will find them. Tragically, this is not the case most of the time and the child dies from exposure to the environment.

There are many reasons why babies are abandoned by their parents and left at Baby Hatches to be taken care of. The most common reason is that the child cannot be properly taken care of by the family due to poverty and mental or physical illness. Many children left in the hatches have some form of disability that the family was unlikely able to provide the right care for. Another reason is that the child was born out of wedlock or due to an extramarital affair and the parents do not want people to find out.  In China, females make up the majority of abandoned children (China's Baby Hatch Scheme). This is because China allows families to have only one child and a male is more likely to support his family while carrying on the family name. So if the first born is a female the family will abandon the girl and try again for a boy. Also because of the one child per family rule, if the family already has a child they will give their second child up. BBC News reports that, "baby boxes may be used by unscrupulous fathers or even controllers of prostitutes to put pressure on mothers to dispose of an unwanted baby," this is a great example of how the Hatches can be abused (Evans).

There are objections to the use of Baby Hatches due to the misuse of them from a small amount of irresponsible parent that have given the Baby Hatch a bad reputation among the general public. Some parents have resorted to dropping off their child at a Hatch due to such mundane reasons as not being able to find a child care facility before returning to work and studying abroad and not being able to take the child with them. One opinion from the critics of the Hatches is that the fact that they exist creates a demand for abandoned babies. Also because there have been more and more Hatches available to mothers in need, it projects the image that society approves of infant abandonment. Even those who are for the use of Hatches understand this viewpoint but still see the need for them, they should be used carefully given the risk of encouraging child abandonment (Asai). Such a small number of people abusing the system should not ruin the amazing work that is being done. These objections to Hatches are based on the reckless behavior of a few while the focus should be on the actual system of the Baby Hatches and all the good they are doing. Hatches should not be judged as a terrible means of child abandonment because of the improper use of them.

There seems to be a problem with the anonymity of the lifesaving Hatches amongst critics such as The German Youth Institute (Bartsch). It is believed that since mothers can drop off their young anonymously it takes the pressure and responsibility off of the parent and makes it easier to simply give up the child. The idea that the parents have an obligation to raise their children under any circumstance, including dire, is what prompts these objections. If the Hatches did not exist, these parents would try harder to keep the child is the idea behind this opinion. It seems that this group of critics would rather have the hatches be made a public affair so that the parents who are unable to properly care for their child will either be too afraid to give the child away or be publicly shamed for making an extremely difficult decision. Even if the decision to part ways with the child is best for everyone involved.

Psychologist, Kevin Browne, argues that the boxes are "so anonymous, and so removed from the availability of counseling, that is creates a damage and a danger to the mother and child"(Evans).  Inside all Baby Hatches is a "letter to the mother" in this letter information such as free advice, recommended medical consultation, financial support, information to get in touch with hospitals and child protection authorities and the mothers rights, is provided (Fenazzi). This critical piece of information is provided so that the mother can make the right choice for the baby and herself. Mothers who use the Baby Hatches have been called selfish and irresponsible but in many cases these women are desperate to save their child. These mothers could be lonely or suffering from postpartum depression and have no one to reach out to in support such as the prostitutes who are controlled by their pimps. Parents are also afraid of discrimination and scrutiny for giving up their child, so anonymity is crucial to the Baby Hatches working.

BMC Medical Ethics address one area of major concern involving Baby Hatches, "they are in a legal gray area," because abandoning a child is illegal and there are no concrete laws on Baby Hatches being considered abandonment. Kristina Schroder, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, believes that the operation of Baby Hatches is illegal and that no facilities should be tolerated or exist because they are promoting the abandonment of children (Bartsch). While others believe that Hatches have legal standing because they provide shelter and safety for an act that would happen anyway. Li Bo, the president of an adoption center, explains that "Laws emphasize prevention, while baby hatches focus on rescue after the laws are broken" ( China's Baby Hatch Scheme Expands for Unwanted Disabled Newborns). Even though there is no clear basis for Hatches they are not considered outright illegal because they save lives of newborns and are a better alternative to the other options that are outright illegal.

What troubles many when discussing Baby Hatches is the child's rights versus the rights of the parents. Objections have been made about hatches because it interferes with the child's right to know their biological parents. As soon as the child is dropped off at a Hatch it is virtually impossible to trace the parents back. Discussions of Baby Hatches and the rights of the children have led to three major disadvantages of these children: lack of information on biological parents leads to trouble establishing independence and identity, lack of genetic information and family history may hinder the child's right to health and the small possibility that the child may unknowingly marry a family member in the future.

Questioning the ethics of Baby Hatches is very common, "does the opportunity to potentially save a child's life take precedence over that child's right to later know his or her family background?"(Batsch) It obviously does take precedence, I would certainly rather have someone save my life than tell me about my family lineage while I'm dying. A child who is in danger should be taken care of properly even if that means being separated from their family who could not provide proper care for them. The UN Convention for the Rights of the Child states that a "child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents"(Asai). Baby Hatches are not ripping babies out of the hands of caring parents, they are taking in the few unfortunate cases where it is better for the child to be put into someone else's care. The child's rights are not being violated with the proper use of the hatches, the parent took care of the child "as far as possible," and did as much as they could and the only option they have left is to give their child to a safe place to be taken care of.

If the focus of Baby Hatches is on the child's right to know their biological parents and parents are forced to disclose their identity the whole purpose of the Hatch is destroyed. Similarly, if Hatches are forced to close because of the controversy then parents will turn to abortion, infanticide and abandoning babies in streets.  When critics focus entirely on the child's rights to identity without considering the circumstances, the child's right to life will be violated (Asai). The wellbeing and survival of newborns is more important than their right to know their parents because if the child has no chance of survival then there is no opportunity to find out their origins. A German hospital director, Sandro Foiada, states "we must be pragmatic and not shut out eyes to reality. The abandonment of newborns exists, and if this hatch helps us save even one, it will be worth the effort" (Fenazzi). Even though Hatches are not the best possible situation for a newborn, it is a far better alternative than the newborn struggling to stay alive. The fact that babies are abandoned is a harsh reality and Baby Hatches are made to save the lives of those unfortunate enough to not receive the necessary care from their parents.

Baby Hatches are often criticized for encouraging women to "dump" their newborns as a German reporter Bartsch puts it. Describing the decision to give up ones child to a safe haven as a hasty mistake is a very narrow view on the subject. Parents are given eight weeks to return for the infant if they have decided it was not the best decision or circumstances have taken a turn for the better. A parent should not continue to keep a child if they are not in the appropriate state to care for it. Those who are not in favor of the Hatches are projecting this image that if a parent drops off their child they are irresponsible, selfish and not doing what is right for the child. In reality the act of dropping off the child at a Hatch indicates that the parent hopes the child will survive. If the parent was so irresponsible and rash they would just abandon the child in the street. Taiji Hasuda, Jikei Hospital President, established a Baby Hatch in Kumamoto and claims that "deserting a child may cause it to lose its life. But in the act of dropping off one's child at a safe place, is there not the mother's fervent desire to save her own child?"(Asai). Those who do use the hatches are parents who care enough about their child to realize they deserve better than what the parent can offer.

Many people are open to the Baby Hatches efforts to save endangered infants while others are not well informed of the system. A Japanese survey indicated that forty-nine percent of voters thought the hatches were necessary while thirty-three percent said that they "could not say"(Asai). An overwhelming number of supporters compared to those against the Hatches shows that people are aware that the Hatch is a necessary step in saving the lives of newborns around the globe. The large number of undecided voters and those who oppose the system demonstrates that the Hatch is an issue of controversy and is a complicated matter. When newborns and infants are involved in almost any topic it becomes a very sensitive issue. Even among Neonatologists there are more supporters than those against, with fifty-four percent for the appropriate use of Hatches (Asai). It seems that most people are opposed to the Hatches because of personal reasons such as religious beliefs but understand the reality of the situation and the need for them.

The purpose of Baby Hatches is a safe haven for newborns whose parents have no other choice. Even though some abuse the system of Baby Hatches they are intended as a last resort for mothers who do not wish to reveal their identity. Some countries have laws that do not allow mothers to anonymously give birth in hospitals so the only alternatives for truly desperate parents are Baby Hatches, infanticide or abandoning the child. The lesser of all of these terribly sad choices is the safety of the Hatch. Since the introduction of laws allowing mothers to anonymously give up their child in Austria the rate of Neonaticide has gone down significantly. The average rate of newborn murder was 7.2 for every 100,000 births before the law was passed and 3.1 for every 100,000 births afterwards (Klier). This evidence clearly supports the fact that the introduction of anonymous Baby Hatches for desperate parents save lives. If Hatches were to be made illegal parents would be forced back to their bleak and unfortunate options of murder or abandonment.

When compared the small yet powerful benefits of Baby Hatches outweigh the numerous and insignificant downfalls of the device. The most significant impact is that the Hatches protect the child's right to life versus the right to know their biological parents. Parents who face issues with poverty, mental or physical disabilities now have the opportunity to give their child a better life then they could provide. The anonymity of the Hatches protects the parents from ridicule and scrutiny by others for not being able to provide for their child. Children with disabilities who are abandoned "because their parents feared they would not have enough money to pay for expensive medical treatment," are given proper medical care that could save their lives (China's Baby Hatch Scheme Expands for Unwanted Disabled Newborns). Since parents are given up to eight weeks to change their mind and return for their child it can be used as an emergency shelter, while allowing the parent time to think about the consequences of their actions.

The Baby Hatch should be made available for those who are in desperate situations and have no other hope. The system as a whole should not be scrutinized and judged because of the improper use by a few parents. The anonymity of these devices also needs to be kept intact so that parents feel no pressure to keep the child if they are not able to properly do so and does what is right for all involved. The Hatches are operated with good intentions to save the lives of those who are helpless to save their own. These facilities are operated with the concern for the safety and rights of the child and mother in mind. The goal is to prevent abandonment and infanticide and provide shelter, not to promote abandonment or make it easier for the parent and child to part ways. The reality of the world we live in today is that child abandonment exist and the use of Baby Hatches are necessary in order to prevent the death of innocent lives. Baby Hatches do more good than harm and that is what should be focused on.
