Mom of Newborn Baby Abandoned in Apartment Dumpster May Regain Custody

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 28, 2014   |   6:07PM   |   Houston, TX

The mother of a newborn who was found alive abandoned in an apartment dumpster in Houston, Texas, may regain custody of the child.

As LifeNews reported, officers were called to the Windmall Lakes Reserve apartment complex at about 8:30 a.m. on a report of a newborn baby found alive in a dumpster. A man named Carlos was going through the trash when he heard a noise. At first, he thought it might be an animal, but after further searching discovered the baby in a bag. EMS crews were called the scene.

dumpsterbaby2The baby was conscious and breathing. He was taken to a nearby medical center for assessment and treatment. Children’s Protective Services has been notified.

Now, the teen mom may regain custody.

A teenage mother who dumped her newborn baby in a dumpster moments after giving birth has been given hope of regaining custody of her son.

The 16-year-old, who has not been named, was told during an emergency court hearing that she has a year to prove she is capable of looking after the child.

If she satisfies welfare officers at the end of the process, she may be permanently reunited with the baby.

In the meantime, a judge has granted the student at South Houston High School, Texas, access to the baby discovered in a sack of rubbish on Tuesday.

The mother insisted she thought the child was dead when she threw him into the dumpster, a Child Protective Services caseworker said in Houston during a court hearing on Wednesday.

LifeNews has reported on a number of cases in recent months of babies who have been abandoned in a variety of places and left to die. These kinds of cases are occurring despite laws in numerous states helping to protect newborns from infanticide by allowing a mother to surrender her baby at someplace such as a hospital or fire station so the newborn can be cared for and placed with an adoptive family instead of killed.