Newborn Abandoned In Baby Box Adopted By Firefighter Who Found Her

to most parents the thought of ever abandoning their child is simply unheard of that bond is not easily broken so no matter how hard things may get it's always worth fighting through to maintain that loving connection before we continue please take some time to subscribe to daily dose like and share this video with your friends not all parents have such lucky circumstances though and dire consequences can sometimes mean dire actions driven to nigh Unthinkable decisions these decisions aren't the be all end all though as there are now more opportunities than ever for all parties to have a safer future that type of stress can weigh heavily on a mind making the person in question feel awful about themselves if your low self-esteem has been dragging you down lately you can start breaking free from that cage today it's something most of us have likely said before not everyone is fit to raise a child though it's often brought up as a judgment or a point of concern there's also a more grounded context in which that's said and it's when a parent themselves has to ask whether or not they're able to raise a baby for those that understand they're not be it due to financial reasons mental health reasons or otherwise there are a growing number of services for them in cities across the country there are buildings with a feature known as the safe haven baby box the box is a place where parents who need to abandon their child for whatever reason that may be can do so safely and anonymously knowing someone will safely retrieve the baby and give it a new life it sounds cruel the thought of abandoning a child but boxes like these prevent these children from being left somewhere they may not get found where they may get kidnapped or Worse prevent their death these boxes are often stationed in places with 24-hour monitoring or close to so the baby isn't left alone for too long in Okala Florida the safe haven baby box is in the local fire station that's where a man named Vincent was working when he heard an alarm go off not the usual fire alarm that signified it was time to hop aboard a truck but the alarm that told him someone had used the safe haven box he originally believed it to be a false alarm but went to investigate that's where he found a small baby girl wrapped up in a pink blanket she had a little bottle with her and she was just chilling he told NBC News I picked her up and held her we locked eyes and that was it I've loved her ever since that moment unbeknownst to the baby who would later be named Zoe and the parent who surrendered her she arrived at just the right time Vincent and his wife Katie had been trying to have a child for upwards of a decade with no luck Zoe's coincidental arrival during his overnight shift seemed to be a sign she was meant to be part of their family not right away though the protocol involving the safe haven box is that the baby must first be brought to the hospital so Vincent wrote a note explaining his immediate wish to adopt Zoe and tucked it inside her blanket before he handed her over to the hospital staff I explained that my wife and I had been trying for 10 years to have a baby I told them we'd completed all of our classes in the State of Florida and we're registered to adopt he said all we needed was a child when his wife woke up the next morning and he was able to tell her what happened she immediately began to cry I was like don't get too excited yet Vincent told today my biggest fear was that the note I wrote wouldn't stay with Zoe and she'd be gone it was a very stressful few days however just two days after he found her in the safe haven box Zoe was at home with her new parents their path toward an official adoption having just started before you finalize anything can happen and we've experienced that in the past so when the judge said you guys are a family we kind of looked at each other and we're like we're a family holy guacamole we're a family Katie said so that was easily the Best Day Of Our Lives Zoey was originally brought home in January but the adoption wasn't finalized until April Vincent and Katie are immense ly grateful for Katie's birth mother whoever she is and wherever she may be we needed each other Katie explained and the way we were able to help each other was through that baby box their goal with making their story so public is that it will one day get back to Zoe's birthmother and she'll get to know that her child is safe with a family who loves her it's not about me it's not about my wife it's not about our journey to have kids it's not about me being a first responder it's about this beautiful little girl who has given the chance of life and that she's been adopted she's loved and hopefully her birth mother sees it and recognizes that she did the right thing Vincent explained she doesn't have to worry anymore her daughter's taken care of and is loved beyond words Monica Kelce the founder of Safe Haven baby boxes spoke at a press conference the day that Zoe was surrendered and found expressing much the same sentiment that Vincent later would we want to address the parents who legally surrendered this infant and right now I'm going to talk directly to her or him she said at the time thank you thank you for keeping your child safe thank you for bringing your child to a place that you knew was going to take care of this child and thank you for doing what you felt was best facing a decision like whether or not you're able to support a baby you just brought into the world must be immensely tough there are so many factors that could make someone aware they're not fit to raise a child but the guilt associated with abandonment is too much to bear from many meaning that child gets raised in an unfit unstable Home Instead luckily for Zoe her mother was strong enough to do what was right no matter how awful it must have felt they can both go on to live a better healthier life now because of her decision and because of the confidence that safe haven boxes give parents like her being raised in a household that's not able to properly care for a child can leave some deep scars trauma like that can continue to affect people all the way into adulthood making even simple life tasks difficult