Where can I take my baby?
- Take your baby to any hospital, fire rescue station or EMS (Emergency Medical Services) station in the state of Texas.
- Please remember that it is VERY important to give your baby to a person working at one of these facilities. That is the best way to care for your baby.
- Tell the person that you want to leave your baby at the Safe Baby Site.
- Look for this yellow sign.
How old can the baby be?
- You can take your baby, up to 60 days old.
What will they ask me?
- You may be provided with a voluntary form to fill out that is used to provide medical information for your child. This is NOT an attempt to try to find out who you are. This information will be put in your baby's records, and may help answer health questions in the future.
- The Safe Baby Site may offer to give you some referrals and help lines that you may want to call in the future if you want to speak with someone about what you have been through.
Is it true that the police will not be called?
- If you leave your unharmed baby (60-days-old or younger) with a person who works at a hospital, fire station or with an EMT, the police will not be called and..
- You will not be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect.
What happens to my baby?
- If you leave your baby at a fire station or with an EMT worker, they will give the baby immediate medical care and then transport the baby to the closest hospital.
- The hospital will take care of any additional medical needs that your baby may have.
- The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (TDPRS) will then take custody of your child.
- After the legal responsibilities are fulfilled by TDPRS, your baby will be placed with a caring family.
Why must the baby be 60 days old or younger?
- The intent of the Baby Moses law is to provide a responsible alternative to desperate mothers.
- The first days of a new born's life are the most critical and most likely the time that immediate medical attention is required.
The "Baby Moses Law" is the common name of a law authorizing a designated emergency infant care provider to take possession of a child appearing to be 60-days-old or younger from the child's parent, if the parent does not express intent to return for the child. You can find this law in the Texas Family code, Chapter 262, SubChapter D. Emergency Possession of Certain Abandoned Children. One purpose of the law is to encourage parents who abandon their children to do so with a designated emergency infant care provider rather than at a dangerous location. The law also protects parents from criminal prosecution when they deliver an unharmed child to a designated emergency infant care provider.
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