Date: Mar 17th 2014 5:06p.m.

Contributed by:
ktschroedes

Baby hatches have opened in several cities throughout China. Guangzhou is the first city to suspend this program.

Baby hatches have been placed in twenty-five mainland cities as part of a pilot program in China. More are set to be opened in 18 more regions of mainland China, according to CNN. Baby hatches have been set up by the government for mothers to anonymously drop their unwanted babies off safely. While gender statistics show an even split between girls and boys, these unwanted children typically have disabilities or severe illnesses. 

Guangzhou opened it’s own baby hatch on January 28 and is currently suspended due to the overwhelming number of abandoned babies. Yahoo News just reported yesterday that 262 babies have been dropped off at the Guangzhou hatch, and all of the babies suffer from some disease. Guangzhou’s Bureau of Civil Affairs reports 110 cases of cerebral palsy, 39 cases of Down’s syndrome, and 32 cases of congenital heart disease. “Due to an increasing number of abandoned babies at the baby hatch, the orphanage’s ability to receive those babies has reached the limit,” said Xu Jiu, director of Guangzhou Social Welfare Institute. 

Some argue that the availability of baby hatches encourages child abandonment while the argument for the hatches is that they are necessary for the safety of the newborns. What are your thoughts?