(LifeSiteNews) – A child given away at a Kentucky safe haven two years ago has officially been adopted, highlighting the hope available to children that the abortion industry labels “unwanted.”

Live Action reported on a recent Good Morning America segment highlighting the case of Baby Samuel, who in May 2022 was left at a Louisville fire station as a newborn and swiftly transported to a local children’s hospital. Area foster parents Chris and Brittany Tyler saw a news story about the child soon after and “prayed and hoped” for the opportunity to care for him.

Days later, the couple, who had previously fostered 15 kids and adopted two sons, got the call. “He was in the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] for a couple of weeks before he was ready to come home [because] he was so small,” Brittany said. He weighed just three pounds at birth. “And we were able to visit him in the NICU that entire time.”

Now, Samuel is their third adopted son, which they celebrated with a trip to Build-a-Bear to make a firefighter bear in honor of the emergency workers with whom they keep in contact. “We’ve got a great photo of the firemen that were on duty that day holding him, and we’re talking about these huge guys … and just massive smiles,” Chris said. “[They] know that there’s a special connection between Samuel and that fire station, and with them particularly.”

“We really want to let [Samuel] know that somebody loved him even though they weren’t going to be with him for his whole life,” he added. “That [his birth mother] loved him and wanted the best for him, and she trusted that he would go to a good place, and we’re thankful to God that he came to us.”

The Kentucky Safe Infants Act allows parents to surrender infants younger than 30 days old to a safe haven, no questions asked. Approved safe havens include hospital emergency rooms, police stations, fire houses, and participating houses of worship. Emergency medical services providers may also take surrendered infants. 

Among recent years’ advancements in safe haven practices are Safe Haven Baby Boxes, designed for mothers to securely and anonymously deliver babies to a safe place such as a fire station, where they will be taken by professionals for care and placement with a willing family. They are equipped with heating, cooling, and a silent alarm for medical attention. Once a baby is placed in a box, it then locks on the outside so passersby cannot take or harm him or her.

“It’s an imperfect world, and we don’t have perfect solutions for every situation, but this is another option for a mom,” Louisville Fire Department assistant chief Lt. Col. Bobby Cooper said. “If a mom finds herself in a crisis situation and needs a haven for an infant, this is another resource that’s available.”

The option of safe havens undercuts some of the most commonly invoked rationalizations for abortion: the difficulty, expense, and career or educational impact of raising a child. They, along with adoption services and the work of crisis pregnancy centers, remain as vital to pro-life efforts as ever now that abortion may be directly prohibited. Fourteen states currently ban all or most abortions, with available data so far indicating those states could effectively wipe out an estimated 200,000 abortions a year.

More information about Safe Haven Baby Boxes, including their exact locations across America, can be found at the organization’s website. More information about safe haven laws, resources, and other types of safe haven locations can be found at the website of the National Safe Haven Alliance.