MISHAWAKA, Ind. — A northern Indiana police officer and his family are giving a new life to a baby surrendered shortly after birth.
Mishawaka Police Ofc. Bruce Faltynski and his wife, Shelby, finalized the adoption of their 8-year-old daughter, Kaia, in March. A few weeks later, the Department of Child Services called again.
(NOTE: The video in the player above is from a previous story about a Safe Haven Baby Box "success story.")
A tiny baby girl, left in a Safe Haven Baby Box, needed a home.
“The doctor thought maybe less than 24 hours old when she was initially surrendered in the Safe Haven box in Lake County,” Shelby Faltynski told WNDU. “We are so grateful for Myah’s birth mom, she made a really courageous decision.”
The couple officially added Myah to their family on Friday, Nov. 18, one day before National Adoption Day which is observed every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are temperature-controlled and sound an alarm when an infant is placed inside, alerting firefighters. Once taken out of the box, the baby is checked by medics and taken to the hospital.
The baby box program allows moms in crisis to safely surrender their newborn with no questions asked. Newborns who are surrendered in the boxes are usually adopted in about a month.
Doctors at the neonatal intensive care unit that cared for Myah after she was surrendered determined she had suffered a stroke. Thankfully, her new parents say she is doing very well now and that she is meeting all of her milestones.
For a list of Safe Haven Baby Boxes locations, click here.