2 Babies Relinquished Under CT Safe Haven Law in April

Two babies were relinquished at Connecticut hospitals this month under the state’s Safe Havens Act, the Department of Children and Families confirmed Wednesday, marking an unusual spike in surrenders for a single month.

The infants were brought to Yale New Haven Hospital and Connecticut Children’s at the University of Connecticut Health Center. While two surrenders in a month may sound like a small number, it stands out against the law’s long-term trend: since the act took effect 25 years ago, only 60 babies total have been relinquished statewide. In all of 2025, just one baby was surrendered.

At a Wednesday press conference, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz called the Safe Havens Act “life-saving” and said it has had “an incredible impact.” She emphasized the isolation that can surround a parent in crisis. “Those women who find themselves in a situation where they deliver a baby and they cannot or they do not want to raise that baby, they may feel incredibly isolated and challenged and judged, and they may feel they have nowhere to turn,” Bysiewicz said.

The Safe Havens Act allows a parent, relative or advocate to surrender a newborn at a designated medical facility, anonymously and without fear of prosecution. DCF then places the baby in a preapproved adoptive home. A parent has 30 days to reverse course and begin working with DCF toward possible reunification. Connecticut currently has 37 designated surrender sites, 25 of them hospitals, all accepting babies around the clock.

Pam Sawyer, the former state representative who led the push to pass the original law, said she designed it to be “so simple it could be shared in the school bus.”

State Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, who co-chairs the General Assembly’s Committee on Children, pointed to housing instability and financial hardship as factors that can push a parent toward surrender. The committee has advanced a bill this session that would create a task force to study the voluntary surrender of infants. The study would include a specific look at how such programs can avoid perpetuating racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities among surrendering parents. The bill cleared the Senate on April 15 and now awaits a House vote.

One policy question hovering over that conversation involves so-called “baby boxes,” temperature-controlled chambers installed in the exterior walls of surrender locations. The devices allow parents to relinquish a baby without any face-to-face contact. Once an infant is placed inside, alerts go to facility staff and to 911 dispatch centers. The boxes include bassinets and are equipped with heating and air conditioning. They are not, however, federally regulated, a gap that researchers and bioethicists have raised as a concern.

Supporters of baby boxes argue they offer an additional layer of anonymity for parents who might not feel comfortable walking into a hospital emergency room. Critics worry that without federal oversight, the standards governing the devices vary too widely to ensure consistent safety.

The debate points to a broader tension running through Connecticut’s safe haven framework. The law has undeniable value: 60 babies over 25 years who might otherwise have faced abandonment in unsafe conditions instead entered a supervised adoption process. But the task force bill signals that legislators recognize the program needs sharper data and more deliberate equity analysis before it can claim to serve all Connecticut parents equally.

Two surrenders in April does not necessarily signal a new trend. DCF officials have not suggested they expect this pace to continue. Still, the timing gave advocates and lawmakers a concrete moment to spotlight resources that many Connecticut residents still do not know exist.

Connecticut’s 37 surrender sites are spread across the state, but awareness remains uneven. Bysiewicz and other officials used Wednesday’s press conference partly as a reminder that the option exists, no questions asked, any hour of the day, at a hospital near nearly every Connecticut resident. For a law built to be simple enough to pass along on a school bus, the ongoing challenge is making sure word keeps traveling.