Abandoned baby Elsa is third newborn to be deserted by same parents

[SerendipityJane]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5115e7k2eno

I haven't read the whole thread since I posted on it yesterday, but I hadn't realised the authorities didn't want it known the three children have the same parents. It was a court which sanctioned the publishing of these details after press agencies argued it was in the public interest to do so.

DP thinks the parents are poor, end of, and can't afford to raise the children. If that is the case that's a pretty damning indictment of our society.

There would have to be a lot more than just poverty going on.

People struggling with lack of money can access free contraception, GPs, abortion services, midwives, social services and adoption advice.

There have to be significant other reasons why this mother has not been able to access any of the normally available help.

I'm slightly uncomfortable that it was the Press who wanted this information made public. It makes it sound like it is purely to "entertain" the public. It isn't going to help the children at all.

I can't see how it's in the public interest to know that these three children are full siblings - what do we gain from it?

It would only help if someone locally had had suspicions. I don't suppose we will ever know the whole story which is right despite my curiosity.

Your partner has a very limited focus then.

I’ve just read the novel Strange Sally Diamond so I can’t help thinking there’s a similar scenario going on here.

Exactly, its salacious thats all and thats why the press want to be able to report on Family Court matters, solely for clicks and kicks.

The authorities will have a good idea of who the parents are, even if they cant prove it, even if the parents dont engage, even if there is nothing the authorities can do about the situation, whatever that situation is, so to make it public serves no purpose

The decision to make it public was made by a family court judge. Judge Carol Atkinson said the story was of "great public interest".

I assumed someone might know something about this woman and her previous pregnancies if more details were released and might come forward and help the police find her. That's my thinking anyway. And it's important this woman is found because whatever her circumstances are she's not in a good place.

Agree @Yerroblemom1923

I think the public need to know because it is relevant to the health and well-being of all.

If someone is so poor that they are dropping babies in plastic bags in parks, if they are being held captive/or are being abused, if cultural practices not in line with British values are being carried out… shouldn’t the public know to work towards stopping all of the above?

Whatever has gone on, it isn’t acceptable in our society. If there is public awareness it creates a very clear message this isn’t permissible behaviour. Someone may now be looking closer at those in their community than before, and it could lead to ID of the parents, potentially stopping abuse or getting desperate people help.

That puts the legal status of the children into an interesting posiution (maybe one for the legal folk ?).

If you don't know who the parents are, then how can you know if these babies are UK citizens ? Hopefully their adoption makes them so. However given the current direction of travel, I can easily see them being told to leave the country at some point in the future.

Nobody in the UK is so poor that there is no alternative than to leave a new born baby in a park.

The least worst scenario is the parents are illegal immigrants who have somehow survived completely under the radar to the point they think they can't ask for help in a situation where help would be available.

The worst case scenario is a Joseph Fritzl situation.

Don't be daft. That's a scare mongering and irrational suggestion.

I think you’re very naive if you think nobody is so poor or feels they have no other options.

They could be living on the streets, not a penny to their name, or drug addicts, or being held in modern day slavery, and yes sadly that is happening right here in the UK.

@LordSnot and I'm wondering if this is another reason it has been released....clearly a woman is being abused (by a family member) and they want to keep the siblings safe by keeping them together- as they don't want history inadvertently repeating itself.

Sez you.

The mother, and perhaps the father, are obviously “off grid” in some form or another. If the woman was in regular contact with outside people then they would have noticed 3 full term pregnancies that resulted in no baby.

She is not being seen by any medical professionals and likely does not have the support of family or friends, all of whom would have been aware of her condition.

The most likely explanation is that she is a trafficked woman, either being used (and abused) through modern day slavery or prostitution.

The first two have already been adopted, so have parents that are UK residents. I’m with @IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle , but would paraphrase her comment as “don’t talk bollocks”

Nobody is so poor that is the only option. They still have options to seek help- even if it's to give the baby up for adoption.

If the woman is being held captive by the man she has no say in what happened- which I acknowledged.

The authorities will have a good idea of who the parents are, even if they cant prove it, even if the parents dont engage, even if there is nothing the authorities can do about the situation, whatever that situation is, so to make it public serves no purpose

Total rubbish. Of course the authorities don't have a good idea of who the parents are 🙄

Making it public serves great purpose. People are now aware that within a certain area of London there is a black or mixed race couple where the woman has been pregnant in 2017, 2019 and 2023 with no baby afterwards. Linking the occurrences together and reporting them may well be enough to trigger someone's memory about the quiet woman from the end house who she thought was pregnant a couple of times but doesn't have any children, or similar.

If it was 'just' poverty, the mother could still have given birth at a hospital and signed the baby(s) over for adoption. Instead the lives of both mother and child were put at risk by the unassisted birth, then the child's life risked again by leaving them outside.

There's something else at play here that means the need to no be seen (or not allow the mother to be seen), is being prioritised over the safety of both.

It’s been released because the BBC and PA went to court to get it released. Against the wishes of the authorities involved in the investigations.

It wasn’t a planned decision by the people involved in the cases to release the info.

@NigelHarmansNewWife it’s more than poverty causing a woman or a couple to go through pregnancy and birth unassisted and then abandon their baby in cold temperatures. There’s obviously something going on here as well since the babies are being kept alive. There could have been more children who did die I guess or they could be still alive. It’s so hard to know. The couple are off grid for some reason we do not know yet.

@Southlondoner88 why do you say offgrid and what proof of that do you have?