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Japanese Catholic Hospital Sets Up First “Baby Drop Box”

An anonymous baby “drop box” in southern Japan has received 17 abandoned babies in its first year since opening last May.

The Catholic-run Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto created the “Stork’s Cradle” after a series of high-profile cases in which babies were left in parks and at supermarkets.

People can leave babies in an incubator via a hatch on the side of the hospital. The infants are cared for by the hospital, then put up for adoption or taken into care. Thirteen of the abandoned children were boys and four were girls. It is illegal to abandon babies in Japan, but police do not try to find the parents of those left at hospitals or homes for abandoned children. The new facility, 550 miles (885 kilometres) southwest of Tokyo, is the only of its kind in Japan.

Most of the time, there’s another option. Why not look into it before taking the easy way out?