Of Elisabetta Andreis and Luca Caglio
The little one was entrusted to the hospital at Easter. The appeal of the doctors is joined by that of Ezio Greggio: “You will not be alone”. After 10 days the start of the process for adoptability
Nine months in the womb, the birth of a boy, and 15 seconds to say goodbye. The time to entrust him to the “Cradle for life” of the Mangiagalli Clinic (Policlinico di Milano) so that another family could raise him. It’s the choice of a mother who on Easter Sunday, at 11.40, delivered her child to a better fate through the medical staff. “Hello, my name is Enea, I was born in the hospital and I’m super healthy” wrote the woman to introduce him, in a letter placed next to the little body of 2.6 kilos. “Because it’s true, you can also give birth in hospital anonymouslyfor the safety of mother and child» he clarifies Ezio Belleri, General Director of the Polyclinic. Wrapping Aeneas in a blanket.
The responsible abandonment, but no less dramatic, which evokes the “wheel of the exhibits” and which avoids accidental discoveries in insidious places for survival. In Lombardy, the latest case of “deposit” of babies, last August, concerned a girl found in a shoe box in the San Gerardo car park in Monza. Guarantees privacy, the «Cradle for life»: no cameras, just a button to open a shutter which reveals a heated incubator, therefore the last caress and the shutter which closes alarming doctors and nurses. A silent alert since 2016 and sounded for the third time since 2007, when the Cradle was activated. The woman, who uses words of affection in the message, could be a young Italian.
The little one is really fine, already at first sight well-groomed and wearing a onesie. And he is pampered. Distinguishing Marks: Dark hair, Caucasian, vivacious. After just 24 hours there are already those who come forward to ask for custody. «Aeneas will have a week to live. Several couples have written to me via email to get information, and it’s comforting, but the Juvenile Court will take care of the procedure – explains Professor fabio flydirector of the Department of Neonatology and Intensive Care at Mangiagalli -. However, if the birth mother has second thoughts, and I would like to talk to her, we will be here to help her, because in rich Milan it is not acceptable for a woman in difficulty to give up raising a child. I don’t know where she gave birth, but certainly no one has intercepted her discomfort. We must all be more sensitive to the needs of pregnant women: the municipality, family counseling centres, associations. Let your consciences awaken.”
Also Ezio Greggio he launched a video appeal through social media to “find and convince” Enea’s mother to reconsider: “With other friends we are ready to help you: go back to Mangiagalli, I promise you will not be alone”. Signed: «Uncle Ezio».
He should find a family within a month, Enea. She is now in temporary foster care at the Polyclinic. «Ten days must pass before starting the adoptability procedure, the deadline for recognition» recalls the president of the Juvenile Court of Milan, Maria Carla Gatto. Then the ordinary judges will usually form a shortlist of five couples of aspiring parents, examining over 500 applications that arrive from all over Italy every year. Finally, the Council Chamber, where the most suitable couple is identified.
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