Why are baby boxes suddenly everywhere?

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In Alabama, adoptive parents can obtain permanent custody of a child within six weeks, Mancuso says. That’s a quick timeline in a country where most adoptions can take a year or more.

However, for many, baby boxes are a reminder of the tragedy of a woman who carried a child, gave birth alone, and then abandoned that child. Instead, they are seen with joy.

“It’s fun for the foster and adoption workers,” Mancuso says. Families who want to adopt usually want children, and through these surrenders, foster care workers are able to make a family’s dream come true. “We have a lot of families that care about these kids, and we want to serve those families and serve those kids,” she says.

The downside of baby boxes

Compared to other safe haven options, the value of children’s trusts is an open question. Leaving a baby in a box adds no benefit to the existing safe haven system in many states, where a mother engages in a “warm surrender,” where she hands her child over to a medical professional or EMT, says Micah Orlis, a psychologist and founder of the Safe Surrender Clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.