A baby girl was surrendered in Iowa under the state’s Safe Haven law, KCCI Des Moines reported on Friday.
The baby girl was born on July 30 and is now in the custody of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), state officials announced.
The child will be placed with a foster family until she is adopted, officials said.
“The law, which went into effect more than 20 years ago, allows parents in crisis who determine they cannot care for an infant to be able to surrender their child up to 90 days old at designated sites like hospitals and fire stations,” according to the report. “The surrendering parents are then protected from prosecution for abandonment.”
In 2024 alone, five babies have been surrendered under Iowa’s Safe Haven law. Ten babies were relinquished to the state’s HHS in 2023.
Approximately 71 babies have been surrendered to the state under Iowa’s Safe Haven law since its inception, according to the report.