WTF is going on in Germany? 23 cases of infanticide already this year!!

[Carmenere]

I am genuinely shocked that so many women have resorted to this ultimate desperate measure in a civilised, wealthy country.

Story here

I've just read this and am truly shocked. Surely there are ways to give up a baby which doesn't involve killing it??

What's odd is that it isn't a particular group or age which is involved. Some are single women whilst others already have children.

And why Germany? What is happening there that isn't being replicated elsewhere? Unless it is happening elsewhere but being kept under wraps.

I echo what you have both said. I'm sure I remember reading about "baby drops" in Germany quite a few years ago. Isn't it sad that, as the article appears to say, these women seem to be too desperate to have even heard of them.

yes, it's horrifying. My mum was telling me about it (my parents live in Germany) - everybody is puzzled and upset at this. A dead baby was found near them recently which has been genetically linked to another dead baby found a few years ago. Maybe it is just a v. small handful of women who commit serial infanticide - nobody knows.
I really don't understand why these women don't just abandon their babies in a public place.

the baby drops have been around for such a long time and there has been so much publicity about them. And then there is always the option of abandoning your baby outside a church or a police station...

What's the abortion law like in Germany? If it's just been hugely tightened up, for instance, that would explain a sudden increase in infanticide.

Abortion is technically illegal, but quasilegal and safely and more or less freely available until (I think) 14 weeks if the woman has been to counselling beforehand. So I don't think it's that.
There's been debate about the baby drops for some years. In Berlin a few years ago a murdered baby was placed in one

it's so grim - I'm sure the babies they actually find are just the tip of the iceberg really.

In many states in the US there is now a 'no questions' asked policy towards abandoning your baby. As long as it's left in hospital, fire/police station, they won't come after you or prosecute you.

These measures were put into place after many babies were abandoned in unsuitable places.

Often, the mothers - when captured on CCTV - were seen to be ethnic minorities who may have been fearful of the consequences of having a baby out of wedlock, or afraid to seek medical attention, etc.

my god thats just awful

A lot of these cases in Germany, at least the ones I've been aware of, seem to involve, as the article suggests, women whose partners reject their pregnancies and who are so frightened of losing the partner that they 'sacrifice' the baby

What needs to be looked at is the wider issue, though.

In the US, as noticed, the babies were often ethnic minorities, from cultures where it was seen as dishonourable to have babies out of wedlock, or where there was a lot of isoloation of women and exclusion of them from healthcare.

So it was also decided to target these communities and try to get the message out there that help was to hand for women who found themselves in this situation.

One baby was recently found behind a nappy display shelf in a Vietnamese grocery store. The baby was of Vietnamese descent as well and was luckily found in time.

Others weren't so lucky.

No, it's not just Germany. It happens in Italy as well. Babies dumped in waste bin, the fruit of emargination, desperation, loneliness, ignorance, and fear.

that is so sad, for both the babies and the mothers, i have no idea what must be going on in your mind to be able to dump let alone kill your baby!!

There have been three here in Scotland in the past year, but the babies were found in time, fortunately.

I think the no questions asked policy is a good one. Its so sad that it happens at all.

So sad, I saw something on TV about this recently but can't remember what country it was though, somewhere in eastern Europe, or maybe even Italy, can't remember.

There are so many couples desperate to adopt too.

im sooo shocked, they must be so cold hearted woman to do so. i heard people leave newborns at church doorsteps in olden days, but why take inocent babies life, why do you carry 9m and take its life, how heartless is that, oh it does upset me

Perhaps there's a fear these days that if you abandon a baby you will, at some point, be traced and made to confront the child eg adoption is now more open so a child can trace you in future. These might be women who would, under other circumstances, have had abortions but have not done it in time so kill the baby after it's born instead. It is horrific to imagine the state they must be in to do it.

I can understand it being traumatic but traumatic enough to kill a newborn? They would have had nine months to contemplate what they might do. I think in most cases its premeditated