Texas Safe Haven Law and Alternatives
If you’re concerned about Texas Safe Haven Law, it’s important to understand its limitations. While the law provides a legal way to surrender a child anonymously, it often overlooks the emotional and long-term consequences for both the parent and the child. Safe Haven surrenders may seem like a quick solution, but they leave parents with unanswered questions and children without crucial family history. The good news is that adoption is a far better, more compassionate alternative. In this article, we go over the implications of the Texas Save Haven law and why adoption is the better choice.
Overview of the Texas Safe Haven Law
For parents overwhelmed and feeling like they have no other option, the Texas Safe Haven Law—often called the Baby Moses Law—provides an alternative. This law allows parents to anonymously surrender their infant (60 days old or younger) at designated Safe Haven locations, such as hospitals, fire stations, and EMS stations, without facing legal repercussions.
Safe Haven surrenders may protect parents from legal consequences, but they deny the child a connection to their family history and the birth parent the chance for closure. In contrast, adoption provides a more thoughtful and compassionate path, offering parents support and the opportunity to ensure their child grows up in a loving, stable home, with the potential for ongoing connection if desired.
The Risks of Expanding Texas Safe Haven Laws
The Texas Legislature is currently considering a proposal that could, unfortunately, push us in the wrong direction. Expanding the Texas Safe Haven Law may seem like a solution on the surface, but it risks overlooking the deeper issues that truly need attention. Instead of addressing the root causes that lead parents to these difficult decisions, this proposal may unintentionally create more problems by encouraging anonymous surrenders, further straining an already overburdened system.
Understanding TX HB 683 and Its Implications
Texas Representative Ina Minjarez is advocating for TX HB 683, a bill that proposes extending the legal timeframe for parents to abandon a child from 60 days to 12 months. While the intention behind the legislation is undoubtedly compassionate, the reality is that most at-risk children in Texas are not under a year old. This expansion overlooks the complexities of child abandonment and the broader issues that vulnerable children face beyond infancy.
Why TX HB 683 is Not Needed
Unfortunately, this proposed bill would have done nothing to save San Antonio missing child James Avi Chairez. The 18-month-old boy’s mother, D’Lanny Chairez, age 20, was arrested for child endangerment after expressing interest in adoption. Despite her intentions, James’ whereabouts remain unknown, and D’Lanny is reportedly refusing to answer further questions. This tragic case underscores the limitations of the proposed legislation, highlighting that extending the Safe Haven Law wouldn’t address the needs of older, at-risk children.
Why Adoption is a Better Alternative to Safe Haven Surrender
The Bible tells us that Baby Moses had a sister, Miriam, who watched over the basket as it floated down the Nile, to ensure that his birthmother would know what happened to her son. The Safe Haven program in Texas permanently denies parents-in-crisis that peace of mind and denies their abandoned children information about and access to their origins. This disconnect leaves a lasting emotional impact on both parties—something no family should have to endure.
Adoption is an alternative option to Safe Haven surrenders that gives that peace of mind to birth parents. There are many more benefits to adoptions, such as:
1. Long-Term Emotional and Psychological Benefits
Adoption offers a path where both parents and children can experience peace and healing. When parents choose adoption, they make a deliberate decision about their child’s future, knowing that their baby will be cared for by a family who is ready to love and support them. Unlike Safe Haven surrenders, where the parent may never know what happens to their child, adoption provides closure and the possibility of ongoing connection. With open adoption, birth parents can stay connected, watch their child grow, and experience the healing power of knowing their child is safe and thriving.
2. Support for the Parent
Adoption is not just about the child—it’s also about the birth parents. When parents choose adoption, they receive counseling, legal guidance, and access to medical care, helping them make informed, compassionate decisions. This level of care and attention isn’t available through Safe Haven laws, which often leave parents feeling isolated, without the necessary resources to process their emotions. Adoption ensures that parents have the tools they need to move forward with confidence and peace of mind.
3. Medical and Family History for the Child
A child’s medical and family history can be invaluable for their future health. Adoption ensures that this information is passed along to adoptive families, giving the child access to their genetic background. Safe Haven surrenders, on the other hand, often result in a loss of this critical information, leaving adoptive families and the child with unanswered questions. Through adoption, children can grow up with a clearer understanding of their origins, helping them navigate health decisions and build a sense of identity.
4. Legal Protections and Assurance
Adoption offers full legal protection for both the parent and the child. Licensed agencies like Abrazo follow strict legal procedures to ensure that the child is placed into a stable, loving home, while protecting the birth parents’ rights. This transparent, well-monitored process guarantees that the child is placed with a family ready to provide a lifetime of care. Safe Haven drops lack this level of oversight, potentially creating gaps in the child’s future security and well-being.
5. A Sense of Belonging and Stability for the Child
Children who are adopted grow up knowing that they were intentionally placed with a family who cherishes them. This sense of belonging creates a foundation of love and stability, allowing them to grow up feeling valued. In contrast, children surrendered under Safe Haven laws may one day struggle with feelings of abandonment or confusion about their past. Adoption gives them the gift of clarity, love, and a stable future—one where they can flourish knowing they were deeply cared for.
6. Avoiding Texas’ Overburdened Foster Care System
The Texas foster care system is already stretched thin, filled with children who lack stable homes or consistent care. This isn’t because their families couldn’t have made other plans, but often because they were unaware of the options available to them. Every legal parent who feels they can’t meet their child’s needs has the opportunity to work with licensed agencies like Abrazo to create a private adoption plan, avoiding the foster care system altogether.
Adoption is more than just a legal process—it’s a choice that offers lasting emotional, psychological, and practical benefits for both parents and children. By choosing adoption, parents can ensure that their child grows up in a nurturing, supportive home, where their future is secure and filled with love.
A Birthmother’s Story: The Impact of Safe Haven Surrenders
One of the birth mothers who recently placed a child for adoption with Abrazo tearfully shared her experience with us. Years ago, she had abandoned another baby at a local hospital under the Baby Moses/Safe Haven law. She said the weight of that decision nearly destroyed her, leading to feelings of deep regret and self-destruction.
“I’ll never know where that baby is, and I can never forgive myself for doing that,” she admitted. “I feel like at least doing an open adoption this time, I can be at peace, because this child will always know I cared enough to do it this way. But that one, I will never get over. I’d have to choose abortion before I’d ever do a Safe Haven baby drop again.”
Her story is heartbreaking, but it highlights an important truth: no parent, nor child, should have to live with the emotional toll of a Safe Haven surrender. Any parent who cares enough to make a Safe Haven surrender should also be given the chance to choose an informed alternative that provides both healing and security for everyone involved.
What Are My Texas Safe Haven Adoption Alternatives at Abrazo?
If you’re facing a difficult decision and feel you need immediate assistance, Abrazo is here to help. Our compassionate team is available 24/7 to support you through every step of the process. You can reach us anytime by calling 1-800-454-5683 or texting HELPME to 210-860-5683.
At Abrazo, we provide safe and confidential adoption alternatives for parents who are considering Safe Haven surrender. Our degreed team can meet with parents and their children immediately. Our services include immediate placement, counseling, legal consultation, and foster care options—at no cost to you. For parents placing newborns, we also offer post-partum medical care, housing, and living assistance when needed, as allowed by law.
Parents can choose to do the sort of placement that includes updates and openness or not. The placing parent need not appear in court, as Abrazo’s lawyer handles the termination of parental rights on their behalf, and seals the legal record to protect their privacy. We also notify the Attorney General’s office to end any further child support obligations.
Birthparents who place their children voluntarily through Abrazo have no reason to be pursued by Child Protective Services, nor can they be criminally prosecuted for making a responsible and legal private adoption plan. More importantly, their children gain lifelong support from an adoption community dedicated to providing them with both the affirmation and answers every adoptee deserves.
Advocating For Responsible Adoption Solutions
As Texas considers expanding the Safe Haven law through TXHB 683, we must remember the long-term effects such laws can have on both parents and children. Dumping more children into an already overburdened foster care system is not a responsible solution. Every child deserves to be placed with a family who will love and care for them, not abandoned without a second thought.
Please contact your Texas lawmakers to urge them to vote again TXHB 683. Texas’ children need the best of loving homes– not the painful legacy of knowing they were abandoned at a fire station or hospital. Enabling more Texans to merely dump more children into the state foster care system with “no questions asked” is not best practice when it comes to protecting kids in the Lone Star State.
Anyone with a child for whom they cannot provide proper care or a safe home can contact Abrazo to make a confidential adoption plan– instead of abandoning that baby to uniformed strangers.
Because Texas Safe Haven adoption alternatives (like those Abrazo offers) are far more healthy, for children and for their parents, too.
