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Pretty wild! All states give you at least 30 days to dump your baby, no strings attached. Some states give you 60 days!

I feel like more people should know about this! It seems like a highly under utilized ability.

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[-] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 15 hours ago

why can't you drop it off if it's older than a month? what if I want to drop off my 4-year-old

[-] AngryRedHerring@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago

Yeah, and what's the latest I can pick them up? 11:00?

[-] Rooster326@programming.dev 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Nebraska had no age limit, and people were driving tens of hours to drop 15/16 year olds off. Which the state didn't have enough resources to handle.

[-] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 13 hours ago

that's completely fucked actually

[-] doed@lemmy.world 3 points 13 hours ago

As a person who was dropped off somewhere as a baby, I completely love this, this can help many babies live a full filling life tbh.

[-] so_pitted_wabam@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 hours ago

Most based source in the thread 💯

Thank you for sharing you’re experience 🙏

[-] quick_snail@feddit.nl 27 points 1 day ago

TIL the US has free child care.

[-] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Where did you think firemen come from?

[-] droans@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Toddlers are perfect for getting in all the small fiery caverns which the grown firemen can't fit into.

[-] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 8 points 21 hours ago

But, but I don't even have a baby.

[-] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 13 points 21 hours ago

Drop by a fire station, you might be able to pick one up!

[-] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 10 points 21 hours ago

But aren't fire stations kind of heavy?

[-] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 6 points 21 hours ago

Ah, the ol' lemmy switcheroo!

[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago
[-] thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

read the page

it says that all states, dc, and puerto rico

[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

Yeah, I didn't read the page, just the title.

[-] abbiistabbii@piefed.blahaj.zone 32 points 1 day ago

Reasonable. Now who's gonna bet that some dip shit in Washington makes it illegal because "mothers should face the consequences of their decisions" or some bullshit. 

Call me a cynical old bitch but when the US does something reasonable I always think "how they gonna fuck it up this time?"

[-] Triasha@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Reasonable for the mother. The baby is rolling the dice.

Healthy babies are in high demand for adoption, so the odds are good, but not perfect, and its a terrible system to get stuck in, at least in my state.

And people are going to use that argument to get rid of safe haven zones.

[-] DoomedFromTheStart@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Can you drop off your baby, once a month, for a couple of hours on a date night?

Nah, I was thinking something along the lines of the Right saying that Young mothers are abandoning their kids because "they're selfish" or "they are avoiding responsibility" so some state passes a law that states that abandoned kids get DNA tested and traced back to their mothers so they can be forced to raise kids they can't afford/can't raise "to protect the family".

The US has a track record of fucking over women and girls, what with their war against contraception, abortion, adequate child care, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if the next move is "stop women giving kids up for adoption" under the guise of "protecting the family" or "personal responsibility" or some shit, but in reality is just a way to create cheap labour from underpaid women with a mouth to feed.

[-] militaryintelligence@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

KY is making abortion pills controlled substances, like heroin. Women must be punished apparently

[-] julianwgs@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 1 day ago

There is something similar called "baby hatch" in Germany, but those are usually located at hospitals. Why the fire station? It makes no sense to me.

[-] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago

In many states fire service is also emergency medical service.

[-] Donebrach@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Firemen are the only honorable public emergency service left in this country. all the rest are just out to murder people (source: am an american.)

[-] droans@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

It doesn't have to be fire stations. But they are commonly used for a few good reasons.

They're relatively ubiquitous. It shouldn't be hard for someone to locate a fire station. They're almost always staffed 24/7. They're trained on basic first aid. Quite often, they'll even have medics on staff.

Very importantly, though, they don't have a lot of people coming in and out of them. One of the big benefits of this program is that there are zero questions asked and it's as anonymous as you wish. The people who use these are often afraid they'll be judged as a failure. The lockboxes have a built-in time delay so you can leave before the station is alerted.

[-] KelvarCherry 5 points 1 day ago

Fire stations are public utilities owned by local governments. Also, hospitals are regularly visited by people, whereas fire stations are more private as they mainly send out and return from dispatches.

[-] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 day ago

Fire stations are everywhere, staffed by trustworthy people, who inevitably also have medical training. Additionally they aren't scary like the police are.
They're the people you call if you need help.

You can surrender an infant at a hospital too, as well as a police station, but fire stations are just more frequent.

[-] GarboDog@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Fire stations are more anonymous, however you can give up rights to your child at Fire Stations, Police Stations, and Hospitals (far as we know) there are even some numbers and child protection will pick them up. Reason is because they rather take the child safely than deal with well.. yk

[-] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Why the fire station?

they're staffed 24/7

[-] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Hospitals close for the night?

[-] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

whic do you think there are more of, hospitals or fire stations?

[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Hospitals in the US are kind of scattered, largely as a result of private equity tomfoolery. A lot of communities don't have one nearby. But pretty much every community has at least a volunteer fire station, and I believe all firefighters are required to be trained in at least first aid, if not be fully-qualified EMTs.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

ALso they are in places that arnt easily reached too, and in busy traffic area, so not safe.

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[-] chunes@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago

A while back I fell into the rabbit hole of people dropping off the baby without informing the other parent. turns out it's really hard to get the kid back

[-] so_pitted_wabam@lemmy.zip 29 points 1 day ago

Omg, that is insane! Imagine coming home from work like

“Honey, I dropped the baby off at the fire station today and the fireman yelled ‘BACK BACK NO TRADE BACK’ when I handed it over, so I’m pretty sure the decision is final. I hope you weren’t too attached to the babe.”

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[-] YellowParenti@lemmy.wtf 164 points 2 days ago

Nebraska had no age limit for a bit. Guy dropped off 9 of his 10 kids(1 was 18) cause he felt overwhelmed after his wife died a year earlier.

[-] Asetru@feddit.org 133 points 2 days ago

"I think there's a misperception that we just inadvertently left an age cap out. But the reality was we wanted to save lives of older kids who might be at risk," said Amanda McGill Johnson, a Nebraska state senator at the time.

That actually kind of makes sense? I mean, dropping off teens is excessive, but maybe it highlights an issue? Overwhelmed parents of teenagers isn't something I had on my list of people that need more help, at least.

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[-] nonentity@sh.itjust.works 43 points 2 days ago

What about a 956 month old toddler?

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this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2026
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