Founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes shares her story and hope for the future: 'A God-given purpose'
Indiana mom and Navy veteran was herself abandoned, stands 'on the front lines' today of a movement to help others
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With Wisconsin recently legalizing "baby boxes" for anyone to surrender their newborn babies anonymously, the founder of the Safe Haven Baby Box program told Fox News Digital that there is still more work to be done across the United States.
The new law, passed in December, expanded the Badger State's previous Safe Haven law, which permitted a parent to leave an infant younger than 72 hours old at a fire department, police department or hospital.
Now, with "baby boxes" legal in Wisconsin, a person can drop off these children anonymously (previously, it was required that the handoff happen face-to-face).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FLORIDA FIREFIGHTER ADOPTS BABY ANONYMOUSLY DROPPED OFF AT SAFE HAVEN: 'GIFT FROM GOD'
"We're currently active in 14 states," Monica Kelsey, the Indiana-based founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc., told Fox News Digital in an interview.
The first baby boxes should arrive in Wisconsin within a few months, she estimated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Monica Kelsey, based in Indiana, is founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc. She's also the author of the book, "Blessed to Have Been Abandoned" (2021), a U.S. Navy veteran — and a mom of three. (Monica Kelsey)
"Baby boxes" with anonymous surrenders are legal in 22 states — a figure that Kelsey hopes will grow in the near future. (Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc. does not presently operate in all states where the boxes themselves are legal.)
A "baby box" is a safety device provided for use under a state’s Safe Haven Law. It "legally permits a mother in crisis to safely, securely and anonymously surrender if they are unable to care for their newborn," says the organization's website.
These boxes are installed in the exterior walls of fire departments or other locations — and are electronically monitored and temperature controlled.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Their child's life is going to go on. Their life is going to go on."
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said of the new baby box law in his state, known as Wisconsin Act 79, "Expanding safeguards for kids across Wisconsin is a priority for my administration, and this bill provides a solution that will hopefully keep newborns and infants safe from harm."
He added in a press statement shared by his office in early December, "I will continue to advocate for initiatives that work to make our communities and families safer, and I look forward to seeing more bipartisan bills like this in the future."
In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, Pro-Life Wisconsin said that it "supports efforts to prevent the illegal abandonment of newborn infants, often resulting in their tragic demise, by offering ways to hand over newborns lawfully and safely to proper authorities," said Matt Sande, legislative director of the organization.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}‘They can surrender their child’
When a person places an infant in the box, an alarm will alert after a set period of time, letting officials know a child is inside and allowing the person to avoid attention.
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A door on the interior side of the box allows for medical professionals to access the baby and provide medical care.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There "is 100% anonymity," Kelsey told Fox News Digital.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes, like the one above, are legal in 22 states. They allow for the safe and anonymous surrender of an infant. (Safe Haven Baby Boxes)
"If they [the parents or caregivers] don't want to walk in and face someone, if they don't want to talk to you, they can surrender their child in an electronically monitored baby box and walk away knowing that they just saved their child's life," she said.
"Their child's life is going to go on. Their life is going to go on."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While each state has some sort of "Safe Haven" law allowing for the surrender of an infant up to a certain age, the laws differ from state to state.
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For instance, some states, Kelsey said, allow parents to surrender their children up to three months after their births — others, just three days after their births.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A federal law, she suggested, would streamline the process and make an already complicated and stressful situation easier to understand.
"If [the law] is confusing to [advocates] and we're not in a moment of crisis, then it's confusing to these women who are having the worst day of their life, and they're trying to figure out what the law is," she said.
As an adult, Kelsey met her biological mother, something she described as "the best and worst day of my life." Much to her shock, her biological mother showed her a police report from August 1972 — with stunning details. (iStock)
The crusade to ensure the safe surrender of babies is personal to Kelsey — as she herself was abandoned as an infant.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I didn't know my beginnings," she told Fox News Digital.
While she was aware she was adopted, her adoptive parents were not told the truth about her origins.
"My goal is to stop infant abandonment."
"My adoptive parents were told when they adopted me that my birth parents were young and they couldn't care for me, so they placed me for adoption," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And that was not even close to the truth," said Kelsey, who is the mother of three children.
As an adult, Kelsey met her biological mother, something she described as "the best and worst day of my life."
Much to her shock, her biological mother showed her a police report from August 1972.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kelsey said she hopes that one day a federal "Safe Haven" law will be passed. For now, each state has different laws and policies. Above, a baby box is shown in Kentucky. (Grace Ramey/Daily News via AP)
"She was brutally attacked and raped and left along the side of the road," said Kelsey. "And this was in 1972, when abortion was illegal in our country, even in the cases of rape and incest."
Her biological mother, just 17 at the time of the attack, pressed charges against the man.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She later discovered she was pregnant.
"She was taken out of high school, not allowed to go back," said Kelsey of her biological mother. "She was hidden for the remainder of the pregnancy."
"She abandoned her child two hours after the child was born. That child ended up to be me."
She continued, "And then she gave birth in April 1973 and abandoned her child two hours after the child was born. And that child ended up to be me."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kelsey added, "And so I stand on the front lines of this movement as one of these kids that wasn't lovingly and safely and legally placed in a Safe Haven Baby Box by a mother that wanted me."
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Despite her tumultuous start in life, Kelsey said she considers herself "blessed," and is motivated by her strong faith.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"How blessed am I to to have been abandoned but now be saving abandoned children," she told Fox News Digital.
"And it's just it's a God-given purpose. I don't take it lightly," she said. "I take it very seriously. And now I'm traveling the country doing His work."
Monica Kelsey poses for a selfie with a child who was surrendered in a Safe Haven Baby Box. She said she knows these children are "going to struggle. One day they're going to struggle to find their worth … But I want them to know they're not alone." (Monica Kelsey)
Kelsey wrote the book "Blessed to Have Been Abandoned: The Story of the Baby Box Lady," published in April 2021.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She sends an autographed copy to each baby placed in one of the boxes.
"In this book, it shows the struggle of finding my worth," she said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And they're going to struggle one day. They're going to struggle. One day they're going to struggle to find their worth," she said.
"But I want them to know that they're not alone."
Looking ahead, Kelsey said she has no specific goals for the Safe Haven Baby Boxes, apart from the big picture of child safety.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I can't change what happened to me — but I can change what happens to others."
"My goal is to stop infant abandonment," said Kelsey. "And wherever Christ leads me is where I'm going to go."
As she also said to Fox 13 not long ago, "I can't change what happened to me — but I can change what happens to others."
What to know about Safe Haven Baby Boxes
The organization's primary goal is to raise awareness of the Safe Haven Law.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Women in crisis can call or text the national 24-hour hotline (1-866-99BABY1) and receive counseling and assistance free of charge, according to the group.
To date, the hotline has received over 9,000 calls from every state in the U.S., it notes on its website (shbb.org).
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Safe Haven Baby Boxes has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in 9 adoption referrals, and had over 140 legal Safe Haven surrenders.
"Thirty-seven babies have been surrendered in our Baby Boxes," says the organization.
"Three babies were surrendered directly to firefighters at Safe Haven Baby Box locations."
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