She’s only 3 weeks old, but she’s already captured the hearts of people all over the country.
Hundreds have offered to adopt Baby India, the little girl found abandoned in Forsyth County within hours of her birth. Others have offered to supply baby food and even pay for her college, according to Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services.
DFCS Director Tom Rawlings said the offers have come from as far away as Canada. Media reports showing the tiny baby have generated massive interest in the case, he said.
“This is a wonderful miracle that this child survived and is doing well,” Rawlings said. “But this never had to happen.”
Georgia’s Safe Haven law allows for parents to turn over a newborn within 30 days if they are unable to care for the child. The baby must be handed to someone at a police or fire station or hospital, but parents do not have to provide their names.
» RELATED: Did Baby India’s parents know they had options?
But DFCS numbers show it is rare that parents in a crisis take advantage of the law. India was left in a plastic bag in the woods June 6 and her cries alerted a nearby family, who called 911.
The offers of help for India are heartwarming, Rawlings said. But there is already a waiting list of approximately 200 people in Georgia hoping to adopt babies through DFCS. Plus, there are countless older children in the state system hoping for adoption.
In 2018, DFCS was involved in 1,200 adoptions, Rawlings said.
Baby India’s story is one of many involving children left behind. Rawlings is hopeful this case will remind others that countless children are in need.
“There are many children that need help in a lot of different ways,” he said.
For more information on adoption, visit the DFCS website.
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