Baby Girl Left in Safe Haven Box Finds Loving Home With Firefighter Who Found Her. "She Is Very Loved"
The heartwarming story is going viral for a good reason.
Across the country, Safe Haven laws provide a safe and legal way for a mother in crisis to surrender a baby. Baby Boxes installed on exterior walls of designated fire stations or hospitals make the handoff even safe – as soon as a newborn is placed in the box, it locks and alerts medical staff to take custody of the child. Six months ago, a baby girl was dropped off the only Baby Box in all of Florida at Ocala Fire Rescue Station 1. A firefighter at the station went to retrieve the baby from the box, and now he is her adoptive father.
1
A Firefighter, Who Was Trying to Start a Family, Retrieved Baby Zoey From the Box
When the box alarm went off, the firefighter retrieved the newborn baby, finding her with a shoelace tying off her umbilical cord. The firefighter and his wife had been trying to have a baby for a decade.
2
He and His Wife Started the Adoption Process Immediately
He started the adoption process after he rushed the baby to the hospital. Now, the couple are the legal parents of the baby Zoey.
3
They Didn't Get Their Hopes Up
"It wasn't real until I got the call I could go in there with her in the NICU," the adoptive mother said. "We've been trying for almost a decade to have a family, and everything has kind of not worked out for us. So we are like, 'Don't get our hopes up, don't get our hopes up.'"
4
But Everthing "Had Kind of Worked Itself Out"
"Everyone was just in disbelief, honestly, that she was hand-delivered to us almost and that everything had kind of worked itself out to where we could bring her home two days later," she told News 6.
5
The Adoptive Parents Think "It's Respectable" What the Birth Mom Did
"I think it's very respectable, what she did," Zoey's adoptive mother said. "We really felt in our hearts that we wanted to let the birth mom know in some way, shape or form that she is safe, she is happy, and she is very loved."
6
The Founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes Was Abandoned as a Baby
Safe Haven Baby Boxes was founded by Monica Kelsey, who was left as a baby herself. "You know, I never really looked at myself as someone who was going to change other people's lives, I just wanted to put a few boxes here in Indiana and save the two babies a year that we were finding deceased," she said. "We've had 10 [babies abandoned in boxes] this year in 2023. This is a record year for us. But it's working. And this little girl is proof that these boxes are needed in Florida."
7
There Are 153 Around the Country
Now there are 153 around the country. More information is available on the Safe Haven Baby Box website.
