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LINCOLN — Authorities are checking into a couple's claims that they are the parents of a baby left under Nebraska's safe-haven law.
Genetic testing is being done on the young man and young woman who identified themselves as the boy's parents, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday.
Jeanne Atkinson, the spokeswoman, said she could not provide specific information about the case, including when the two came forward, who they went to and whether they want to reclaim the child.
The boy was dropped off July 20 at Box Butte General Hospital in Alliance, Neb., hours after his birth. He was brought in by a woman believed to be his aunt.
Atkinson said Thursday the baby has been released from the hospital and is doing well in foster care.
She said it will be up to the courts to decide the baby's fate. It could take several weeks to get the results of the genetic tests.
HHS officials and local authorities had asked for help in identifying the child, who they said was Caucasian.
Finding his parents could speed the process of getting the boy into a permanent placement, either with his biological parents or with adoptive parents.
If the parents are not found, he might have to spend six months or more in foster care. State law allows courts to terminate parental rights after children have been abandoned for six months or more.
Under Nebraska's safe haven law, the woman who dropped him off and the baby's parents can't be charged with abuse or neglect for dropping off the baby. The law bars prosecution for leaving a child up to 30 days old with an employee at a state-licensed hospital.
The Alliance baby is the first infant to be dropped off since Nebraska's original safe haven law went into effect one year ago.
That law garnered national and international attention because it contained no age limit. Last November, state lawmakers added a limit during a special session.
The session was called after 36 children were abandoned under the original law. Most were troubled teenagers or preteens. Some people traveled from other states to give up their children.
Last November, state lawmakers added a limit during a special session.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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