Baby Girl Abandoned on West Side

By Margaret Lyons in News on Nov 9, 2004 4:04PM

Around 6:45 last night, a woman found an abandoned baby on the 5300 block of West Thomas Street. The woman and her niece heard crying sounds coming from the bushes and investigated, thinking it was a cat. Instead they discovered a newborn baby girl--umbilical cord still attached--wrapped in a white blanket and stuffed inside a plastic bag. The infant was taken to the hospital and treated for hypothermia and dehydration but is listed in stable condition.

This is the second abandoned baby to make Chicago news this week; last Wednesday, a newborn baby boy was abandoned near a fire station in Orland Park. The boy, about 48 hours old, was abandoned near the station presumably in accordance with a 2001 Illinois law, which states that a parent can leave an infant at any hospital, emergency medical facility, staffed fire station or police station if the child is less than three days old and not face any criminal charges or investigation whatsoever provided that the child has not been abused. Learn more about the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act from the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation.

November is National Adoption Month, and this year's theme is "Answering the Call." There are 129,000 kids in foster care in the U.S., waiting for a permanent family, and according to the government "you don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent." That's catchy, right there.