Jess Battison
A firefighter who found an abandoned newborn in a baby box is adopting her.
Earlier this year, a little newborn was placed in the ‘Safe Haven Baby Box’ at a Fire Station in Florida, US.
These boxes are used at various fire departments to allow people to surrender a newborn who can’t be cared for.
The firefighter was working the overnight shift on 2 January when the silent alarm at 2.00am indicated a baby had been left in the box.
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Although he thought it was a ‘false alarm’ at first, he opened it to find a little baby girl wrapped up in a pink blanket, as reported by WKMG-TV.
Speaking to TODAY, the firefighter - who wanted to remain anonymous - said: “She had a little bottle with her and she was just chilling. I picked her up and held her. We locked eyes, and that was it. I’ve loved her since that moment.”
Turns out, he and his wife had been struggling for over a decade to conceive a baby and had already been considering adoption. So, he decided he’d ask about adopting her when he took her to the hospital.
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“I didn't call my wife right away because I didn't want to wake her up, but I knew she'd be on board,” he said.
The firefighter left a note with the baby, letting them know of the couple’s struggles and that they were ready and registered to adopt.
When he did tell his wife, she started to cry but he had to warn her not to get too excited just yet. “My biggest fear was that the note I wrote wouldn’t stay with [the baby] and she’d be gone. It was a very stressful few days.”
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Sweetly admitting difficulty in trying not to cry when he tells this story, he said: “The way I found her ... this was God helping us out."
Two days after she was placed in the box, the baby went home with the couple and was adopted by them in April.
They’ve named their daughter Zoey and want her biological mother to know 'her child is taken care of and that she’s loved beyond words'.
At a press conference in January, Monica Kelsey, who is the founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said: “We know this baby will be so loved by an adoptive family. And we are so thrilled to be a part of protecting infants from abandonment."
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According to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes website, 31 babies have been surrendered in their boxes since 2017.