'Throwing away children is prohibited': the crisis that forces women to get rid of babies
'15.03.2020'
Source: Air force
“It is forbidden to throw children away,” says the sign created by Eric Mejikana. A Venezuelan artist posted such signs across the country after a baby was found in a garbage can at his home in Caracas, says Air force.
With this campaign, Mexico City wants to draw attention to the fact that in Venezuela "something impossible is becoming commonplace".
The country is in a deep crisis. According to the UN World Food Program, every third Venezuelan is malnourished.
Due to contraceptive deficiency and inaccessibility for many families, unwanted pregnancy has become a common problem. And strict abortion laws that allow you to terminate a pregnancy only when the mother’s life is in danger, further limit the choice of women.
According to one charity, the number of children abandoned on the street increased in 2018 by 70%.
The Venezuelan government has not released any official data in recent years. The Ministry of Communications and the Department of Children's Rights refused to comment on the situation. But social workers and doctors contacted by BBC reporters confirmed that the number of abandoned children has increased. The number of illegal adoptions has also increased.
"Short way"
Nelson Villasmill is a member of the Child Protection Council in one of the poorest areas of Caracas. He explains that when confronted with bureaucracy and chaos in the adoption system, parents sometimes resort to a simpler way.
The story of Little Tomas (name has been changed) is one such case. He was born into a poor family in Caracas, the boy's mother realized that she could not raise him.
A gynecologist at the maternity hospital where Tomas was born agreed to help.
He says this is not the first time that women have abandoned a child in a hospital.
“They almost always change their minds when they first breastfeed a baby,” says the doctor. "But sometimes not, and then you have to look for solutions."
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He contacted one of his patients, a woman in her 40s who dreamed of having a baby but could not get pregnant.
Tanya (name also changed) wanted to help Tomash and his mother, but, thinking, refused to adopt.
But she got in touch with her friends, a couple who had a house in the countryside in Venezuela and who agreed to raise Tomasz as her own child.
In order not to arouse suspicion, they had to quickly register the child. Tanya paid the official a bribe in the amount of $ 250 to write down the name of her friend as the mother of Tomas.
Now Tomas is raising in a new family, they recently celebrated the first steps of the boy.
Tanya says that she does not regret what she did, and notes that she circumvented the legislation for the benefit of Tomas.
“I had no intention of doing this, but legal adoption does not work in Venezuela, and this child would have suffered in a state orphanage,” the woman explains.
In a trap
Tomasha was given with the consent of her mother, but there are enough people who enjoy the desperate situation of Venezuelan women.
When Isabelle (name changed) was pregnant a second time, her husband died. The woman decided to abandon the child.
“I was left alone and was afraid that I would not be able to feed her,” she says.
After listening to a friend’s advice, she flew to the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean to meet a couple who wanted to adopt a child. She was told that in any decision, Isabelle would have the final word, but soon she was under pressure from the Colombian woman who was negotiating.
“I was told it would be a legal adoption, I was never going to just give my child,” she recalls. But already in Trinidad, “I realized that I had fallen into the trap of human traffickers”.
“They watched me constantly,” the woman recalls. She was not allowed to leave the house where she was, and she never received the return flight to Venezuela that she was promised.
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Separated
A few weeks later, she gave birth prematurely to a Trinidad hospital. She decided to leave the child, but the Colombian and another man who called himself a lawyer began to put pressure on her.
“They told me that the new parents were waiting in the parking lot and that I had to sign some documents in English that I didn’t understand and give the baby,” Isabelle says.
At first, Isabelle refused, but over the next weeks her captors increased pressure by taking food, medicine, and diapers from her.
“In the end, I had to give up my son to save his life, and I returned to Venezuela for help,” the woman says and cries.
With the help of a non-governmental organization, Isabelle began a legal battle for the return of her son, who is under the tutelage of Trinidad authorities.
Now she can see him only once a week.
She says she will not stop until she returns it.
