A Baby box is a private facility which accepts an infant from a parent who cannot afford to raise a child. In Korea, three baby boxes are operated by Jusarang Community Church in Seoul City and New Canaan Church in Gunpo City to prevent the tragedy of infants losing their lives due to abandonment. However, such baby boxes that initially started with good intentions have become controversial. First, guardians who leave their child in baby boxes can be punished for Infant Abandonment since using baby boxes is currently illegal. In addition to legal punishments, some call for the instant removal of baby boxes as they “encourage child abandonment.” Some also criticize how children cannot be protected under governmental policies, since baby boxes are operated by private facilities.
Despite these controversies, it is dangerous to handle the issues of baby boxes only through the lens of punishment and demolition. Since baby boxes reflect the loopholes in our society’s safety net, their instant removal would be a way too simplistic approach to a complex reality. Primarily, the current lack of welfare policies for a socially isolated birth fails to support the parent. Because there is no practical help from the public sphere, the guardian has no choice but to choose the baby box managed by the private facility. Furthermore, given that Korea does not guarantee abortion rights, punishing the parent, who was left with no other choice, is not only a one-dimensional approach but also irresponsible neglect. In addition, parents’ lack of accessibility to the welfare system is another issue that should be considered. Guardians, who should reveal their identities to access the public welfare system, often hesitate to do so due to concerns about social stigma; in essence, they choose the privatized baby boxes as a last resort. This tendency is shown in the 2012 revision of the Act on Special Cases Concerning Adoption that required parents to register the birth of their child, which led to the increase of infants left in baby boxes. Likewise, the demand for baby boxes is the final option for parents for whom the government failed to provide practical support for. Thus, the punishment and demolition of baby boxes will only drive parents and their infants into worse situations.
For an actual solution of the problem, there is a need to escape the punitive approach. Instead of enforcing their closure, the government must include baby boxes in the realm of public welfare and amend its flaws. Besides improving baby boxes, it is necessary to strengthen the overall support system for the parent by reducing social stigma. Paradoxically, only then might it be possible for baby boxes to be on their way to a natural disappearance. The government’s job is to tighten the grip on our society’s safety net as much as possible so that there is ultimately no space for baby boxes to take place in.