A San Antonio teenager at a local bus stop could have used some guidance on how to give away a baby she no longer wanted, it seems. Karla Ibarra, age 18, apparently asked a homeless woman at a downtown bus stop to take her baby boy, just months old.
The police were called. Child Protective Services was summoned. And that teen mom found herself in jail, charged with endangering her child.
A nearby valet who witnessed Ibarra being questioned by police had some thoughts of his own. “That’s the trouble, these youths having babies these days,” Arthur Villareal told KSAT. “They don’t know how to take care of them. I guess they get overwhelmed with being a kid themselves.”
It’s all too easy to lay the blame on young parents, as plenty of online looky-loos are doing.
But it’s way too easy to take a baby home from the hospital, surrounded by promises of free help, only to find those offers dried up and gone within a few weeks or months.
It’s not just young parents who get overwhelmed
It doesn’t matter what the age is… parenting is tough work. And let’s be honest: Mother Nature never intended parenthood to be a one person job.
Forget the sleep deprivation. The fights between exhausted parents. The increased demands on the household budget. The endless follow-up appointments and the copays at every doctor’s visit.
The truth is that little babies are a big responsibility, and in this economy, costs are rising while food stamps are getting cut and community resources are shrinking. Childcare is expensive, ans is housing and food, and times are hard all over
What’s a desperate parent to do?
Start with taking care of yourself. Eat right, get enough sleep, and ask for help when it’s needed. 211 Texas is a statewide free resource to help anyone find assistance in their area, with a wide variety of needs.
San Antonio has a brand new 24 hour crisis nursery to provide free care for parents facing emergencies who need a safe place to leave a child for a brief respite. Mothers struggling with post-partum depression can call 1-800-422-2956 for free mental health referrals.
Plus the well-funded Texas Pregnancy Care Network pays numerous local pregnancy care centers big bucks per minute to offer parenting classes and distribute diapers, baby clothes and other freebies donated by well-meaning citizens and churches.
What about adoption?
Abrazo will be the first to remind anyone that adoption is a permanent solution. You never want to choose a longterm solution to a short-term problem.
Yet for parents who know they can’t or won’t be the parents their kids need, open adoption can offer babies and children in need a “next best choice.”
One call to an ethical nonprofit adoption agency like Abrazo (210-342-5683) can start the process. Expectant mothers can get free, confidential counseling to explore multiple options, obtain medical care, consider available families, locate housing, get help with food or clothing, seek legal advice, and more.
(Just click here to learn more.)
(Just click here to learn more.)
if only Karla had known how to give away a baby the right way, the outcome could have been far better for both her and her baby.
