Monday August 18, a newborn boy wrapped in a towel is found in an Alexander Heights; stormwater drain. The child is identified by two construction workers completing a routine check. 

A day later, flowers, toys and trinkets accumulate at the scene. A pink teddy bear sits atop the drain, plastic beaded eyes staring out across suburbia. What once was an ordinary street is now cloaked with tragedy.

Despite this haunting and tragic situation, 10 abandoned babies are estimated to be found in Australia every year, deceased, or alive. Some may never be found.

But how is it in 2025, society can’t better provide for mothers in trouble who, for myriad reasons, need to conceal their pregnancy or abandon their baby? What happens interstate or overseas? Is there another way?

Just the thought of an abandoned child, let alone finding one, can have a profound impact on people’s lives forever, a constant reminder of an innocent life lost. 

On November 30, 2014 two young boys found a deceased newborn while playing in the sand dunes at Sydney’s Maroubra beach. Filomena D’Alessandro recalls the day clearly as her first wedding anniversary when they heard the news over the radio while driving out to the central coast for the weekend. 

“It was shocking because it was in our own backyard. The river is very familiar to us, and it ended up being some little nippers from my son’s school that had found the baby which was terribly sad.”

Upon hearing about the tragedy, she and her husband decided to adopt the newborn, giving her the name Lily-Grace.

As rumours and intrigue clouded the eastern suburbs of Sydney, numerous media releases were put out calling for the mother to reach out to authorities and to not be afraid. 

“I didn’t want to scare her away,” Filomena says. “She may have walked away from her baby, but you can never walk away from something like that. She will carry it for the rest of her life.” 

In Australia, it is illegal for a mother to anonymously surrender her child. If there is a genuine need for a mother to relinquish her children, it must be done through social services. Senator Hellen Polley representing Tasmania has been an advocate for Safe Haven Boxes since 2007 and believes that this is another option that could potentially save numerous lives.

“When a mother is in a crisis, whether she is a young mum or a mother of other children, she is not going to ring up social services and tell them she cannot cope with having a baby. When you are in a crisis, you don’t think rationally, you just think, ‘what am I going to do with this child, I can’t care with for this child,” says Polley.

Safe Haven boxes, also known as ‘baby hatches,’ are anonymous drop off points, where a woman can relinquish her child into the care of a hospital.

Polley says an option like this would allow for a mother in crisis to release her baby to safe hands without the added stress of going through social services. 

“They need to have that anonymity because we will never know the circumstances. Some of these babies might be a result of rape or incest. We shouldn’t be judging these women, what we should be doing is putting everything in place to support them.” 

Safe Haven boxes are used in the USA, Canada and in various countries in Asia and the European Union. Although under different names or ways of operation, they all are implemented to prevent illegal abandonment of infants. Polley says that there is even potential for a mother after using a baby box, to reunite with her child if she wishes. 

“In Germany they will take a stamped imprint of the infant’s foot, so if in three months you change your mind, you can come back and reunite with your baby,” she says.

“After the three months, the baby is adopted out to families. What we’re talking about is you might only have 10 babies a year in Germany at that time who were put into Safe Haven boxes. That’s 10 babies who are going to live, that may not otherwise.” 

An initiative such as this could also prevent mothers who have their baby in secret from suffering from major health complications. “In Italy and Canada, you can go into a hospital, have your baby, they will take as much of the medical background the mother will give them and then she can relinquish her baby without any judgement,” says Polley.

If this service not only saves the lives of innocent abandoned children, but protects mothers in various degrees of crisis, why has the Australian government not passed a Safe Haven Law? 

The issue of introducing Safe Haven laws into Australia is argued against in government due to legislation in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, where it states that a child has a right to know both of their parents. If Safe Haven were to be introduced, many believe that this right would be taken away due to anonymous relinquishment. 

Polley says although she is consistently presented with this argument, this is a system that could hopefully solve the problem of infants being abandoned in drains, rubbish bins or in a bus shelter. “I believe every child has a right to have loving parents, to be supported, to be nurtured and have the opportunity to grow up.”

Mental health support clinics, not-for-profits and charities all work tirelessly to support mothers in difficult situations. However, a lack of funding or understanding prevents some prospective mothers from seeking help. West Australian mother, Maisy Fowler admits that she was unaware support services like this even existed until after her pregnancy, “They handed me a few sheets with some helplines on them after Odessa was born, and told me to call if I wasn’t feeling okay.”

Others believe that although Safe Haven could work as an emergency safety-net, the government should prioritise the gaping absence in fundraising for peri-natal and post-natal clinics. Anouska Firth, a Western Australian 36-year-old pro-life advocate was once a mother in crisis. She believes the systems currently in place failed her. 12 years ago, Anouska was recovering from Anorexia, when she would fall pregnant. Completely terrified, she opted for an abortion as it was made readily available to her, paying just five dollars to abort her 12-week-old infant. This led her life to a downwards spiral where she developed PTSD and became reliant of methamphetamine and heroin. She would later fall pregnant again, and although the pain that initially was brought into her life from aborting her child, she chose substances over having her baby. 

Regardless of people’s political views, it’s wildly agreed 10 babies are 10 too many a year to lose. Emotional and physical trauma will forever haunt these mothers who feel as though they have no option other than to abandon their child. 

“Lily’s mum will carry this for the rest of her life. Sometimes when I visit her grave, I see little objects and one must ask, is it her mum that goes there? I hope she does. I really hope she does go there.” D’Alessandro says.