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Original poster

If someone abandoned a baby on your doorstep, would you be tempted to keep it?

212 replies

acassadei · 03/02/2023 19:46

Inspired by the Dumbledore thread over in AIBU. Someone mentioned that (imaginary) Harry Potter was abandoned on a (imaginary) doorstep in November, and I felt a little stab of pure sadness and baby hunger. Should mention that DC1 is 6mo and I am VERY flooded with baby hormones at the moment.

anyway I know if someone abandons a baby in my doorstep legally I’d have to call the police and give it to social services, but I’d WANT to just keep it. And ethically, is there not some justification for that? Baby could just slot right into the family. Surely that’s less traumatic than going through the care system? You’d have to forge a birth certificate I suppose. But then you could just move right on with giving the baby a lovely life. No fuss, no mess, no drama, no tragedy. Would anyone else be tempted or is it just me? 😂

OP posts:
LightDrizzle · 03/02/2023 19:47

Puppy yes, baby no.

Hoolihan · 03/02/2023 19:47

No, a billion percent not. But you are definitely right about the care system.

OrlandointheWilderness · 03/02/2023 19:47

Bloody hell no! 😂 😂 😂

WinterFoxes · 03/02/2023 19:48

I would have when younger, and when trying to conceive I'd have felt the baby was somehow mine. But now (menopause) I'd want the baby to be given a loving home with people young enough to be parents not grandparents.

JofraArchersFastestBall · 03/02/2023 19:49

LightDrizzle · 03/02/2023 19:47

Puppy yes, baby no.

Came here to write exactly that.

TulipCat · 03/02/2023 19:50

I am 52 and my children are teenagers
No way would I be tempted to start again with another baby! But I would definitely feel sad for the kind of life the baby would have if nobody adopted them.

RedLem0nade · 03/02/2023 19:50

Nope. I have exactly enough maternal instinct to parent my own children with slavish devotion and unconditional love. I could extend that to my siblings’ children too. But further than that, I just don’t have it in me.

EweCee · 03/02/2023 19:53

I’d definitely want to keep it. But then I was ‘denied’ a second child by cancer so have been broody ever since! Unfortunately my friends have all finished their families so I have no local babies to cuddle 😆

Crumpetdisappointment · 03/02/2023 19:54

yes, but no but ....

Thatwouldbeme · 03/02/2023 19:54

When I was younger and going through IVF, yes. Now I'm older no, don't think I could cope with the sleepless nights and I certainly don't understand the school system anymore.

NannyGythaOgg · 03/02/2023 19:55

briefly - very very briefly

itsgettingweird · 03/02/2023 19:55

I work with very traumatised young people who have been through the care system so can absolutely see why keeping them and avoiding that would be tempting.

I would also want to provide them with a loving home with every fibre in my body.

But I know another family could offer more if adopted in the right circumstances.

So I'd ring the police but would probably offer to keep them - even though they'd say no! (Not because there's anything wrong with me!)

Chasingsquirrels · 03/02/2023 19:55

Not in a million years.

Nope. I have exactly enough maternal instinct to parent my own children with slavish devotion and unconditional love.
I think I have much less!

bloodywhitecat · 03/02/2023 19:56

Yes (but then I am a part of the care system, I am a foster carer).

SleepingStandingUp · 03/02/2023 19:57

I have 3 yo twins, you'd be lucky if Iet it in the door. Or I'd swap it for the twins... DS would demand we kept it forever.

ComtesseDeSpair · 03/02/2023 19:58

Tbh I’d probably quietly move the cardboard box full of abandoned baby onto my neighbour’s front steps and ring the doorbell, make it their problem.

TenTenEleven · 03/02/2023 19:58

I am extremely broody at the moment so I definitely would and secretly hope that it happens

Tayegete · 03/02/2023 19:58

Tempted yes, but I think that’s my peri-menopausal hormones. I’d soon come to my senses.

mahrezzy · 03/02/2023 19:58

No. I’d be concerned about the mother - what led her to abandon her baby? - and would want to set the wheels in motion to find her and get her the help she needed so she could reunite with her child.

BitOutOfPractice · 03/02/2023 19:58

No. I’m past that baby stage now. Thinking about it, that baby stage was only a relatively absolute window in my life so the chances are small.

cunderthunt1 · 03/02/2023 19:59

Hell yes I'll be your mummy

Coffeaddict · 03/02/2023 19:59

No the only scenario in which I would suddenly end up with a baby would be if my sister and her husband died. We have a reciprocal agreement to take each others kids if something happened.

It's worth noting that petunia Dursley is harry potters aunt so not really a random child scenario

TeenDivided · 03/02/2023 20:00

TulipCat · 03/02/2023 19:50

I am 52 and my children are teenagers
No way would I be tempted to start again with another baby! But I would definitely feel sad for the kind of life the baby would have if nobody adopted them.

Highly unlikely that a baby wouldn't be adopted.

VariationsonaTheme · 03/02/2023 20:00

Yes, I would. I’d have loved more children but my body was pretty crap at dealing with pregnancy.

AnneLovesGilbert · 03/02/2023 20:00

I’m due in a few weeks so I don’t know if I could handle an extra at the moment but 10 months ago I definitely would have kept it. I love babies. DH really loves babies.

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