Family & Safety

Illinois' Safe Haven law gives parents a safe way to give up a newborn baby for adoption if they feel like they cannot handle the responsibility. Parents have 60 days from the date of giving away their baby to reclaim their baby by filing a petition to the circuit court. You can leave your newborn baby with workers at a safe place with no questions asked if:

• The baby has not been hurt, and
• The baby is less than 30 days old.

 Safe places are:

• Hospitals
• Emergency care facilities
• Police stations
• Fire stations (staffed)

Older children

In the case of older children, the Safe Haven law cannot be used. The Safe Haven law only applies to infants 30 days and younger. In order to give up older children, the parent (or parents) must follow the statutory adoption process, which is a more involved and formal process. 

Terminally ill parent

A terminally ill parent may consent to something called standby adoption.  A standby adoption occurs when a legal parent consents to a specified person to adopt their child at a future point. It becomes effective when the consenting parent of the child dies or that parent requests that the final judgment of adoption be entered. 

Adoption vs. Safe Haven law

An adoption is a formal process that can be done with the help of a public agency or privately. Depending on the child’s age, the child may have to agree to the adoption in certain adoption situations. You must go through a formal court process to terminate your parental responsibilities. Generally, the child’s legal parents must 1) agree to an adoption in court or in front of a judge or social worker and 2) sign a document called a Final and Irrevocable Consent to Adoption, which ends parental responsibilities.

The Safe Haven law, on the other hand, applies to very specific situations, and the process of giving up a child under this law is generally anonymous as long as there aren’t any signs that the child was abused or neglected by the parent. Parents can hand their baby to employees at a designated safe place and will not be required to give any personal information. Parents can optionally fill out the baby’s medical history information or mail it in later. 

When a parent gives up a child under the Safe Haven law, there is a presumption that the parent agrees to give up his or her parental rights over the child.