Baby girl found in garbage with ‘loving family’

Carisa Lee

Reporter

Carisa.Lee@cnc3.co.tt

The newborn baby girl who was found in a garbage bag along the corridor of the San Fernando General Hospital in August 2022, has been adopted.

News of the abandoned baby girl grabbed headlines back then, with many people later contacting the Children’s Authority offering to take her into their care.

But the infant, along with another baby girl who was dumped into some bushes, are now both with “loving families,” according to the Children’s Authority.

These cases are the reason why the acting Adoption Manager at the Children’s Authority, Renee Neptune, wants parents who may be considering putting their child/children up for adoption, to know that there’s nothing wrong with choosing that option.

The month of September is Foster Care and Adoption Awareness Month.

During an interview at the authority’s Queen’s Park West, Port-of-Spain headquarters, Neptune said there was still a stigma attached to placing a child up for adoption.

“Persons may be wanting to place their children up for adoption but they are afraid to, they are afraid of being judged,” she said.

Neptune explained that the Children’s Authority tries to negate that feeling by making the space comfortable, safe and trusting.

“We have so many children deserving of a loving and caring family, persons should be more open-minded towards it and remove that stigma,” she shared.

In the last year, approximately 33 children were adopted but only 10 people placed their children up for adoption and while it’s a small amount, Neptune said it’s an improvement from years gone by.

Neptune, who has been employed with the authority for about ten years, said financial or mental issues, as well as a lack of support, were some of the reasons people explored adoption options.

“They may have other children already in their care and financially it’s a strain to maintain holistically another child. Sometimes they don’t have that family support as well, or sometimes persons may think ‘okay, just all-round mentally I am not in that head space to care for this child’,” she said.

Neptune said the authority tries to find other family members who may be willing to care for the child before going through with the adoption.

“The authority is not just in the business of removing a child from their family, we will seek other options,” she said.

She said most of the time it’s parents who are pregnant and about to give birth soon who visit the authority to place their child up for adoption.

However, she wanted the population to know that there were also older children in the system who needed a second chance at life.

“Persons may not always be willing to adopt an older child because they may think ‘okay, well this child may be done set in their ways,’” she said.

Neptune described adoption as a very selfless decision and she commended people who wish to adopt or place their child up for adoption.

She added that it is not about “finding a child for a family” but giving that child a family.

The Children’s Authority’s Adoption Unit can be contacted at 627-0748 ext 40021, 40022, or 40023 or email (adoption@ttchildren.org).

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