Baby surrendered to New Hanover County Firefighter: A look into NC’s Safe Surrender Law

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Last month, a baby boy, likely days old, was surrendered to a firefighter and certified emergency medical technician at Ogden Station 16 of New Hanover County Fire Rescue. 

WWAY spoke with officials on Friday about why this fell under North Carolina’s Safe Surrender Law. 

“Our goal is to make sure that the child is handled and kept safe,” New Hanover County Fire Rescue Professional Development Captain, Kevin McDonald, said. 

North Carolina’s Safe Surrender Law allows a parent to surrender a newborn up to 30-days-old to a designated safe person. 

That safe person can be a firefighter, a member of law enforcement, a health professional, or an on-duty Department of Social Service worker. The infant must be placed into the hands of that person. 

“For us we feel like, ya know, we are there to provide a service to the public. We are there to help. All of us want the best interest that we can, for the human, making sure that they’re taken care of,” McDonald said. 

Holly Royals works for New Hanover County DSS. She said the law was amended in 2023, changing the previous requirement of the surrender taking place in the first seven days of the infant’s life, to now within the first 30. 

She walked through what the process looks like once they have been surrendered. 

“We make sure that the baby receives medical care right away whether that be from EMS, the hospital–make sure it’s checked out and ok– and then our next steps are to determine that the infant is less than 30 days and that there’s no signs of abuse or neglect,” Royals said. 

Royals wanted to stress the importance of this being a safe surrender. She said many people have forgotten, or don’t realize, this is an option. 

“We don’t want it to be in a trash can, we don’t want it to be, ya know, in the woods or left somewhere else. This law really came about as a prevention for infant mortality,” Royals said. 

McDonald said it’s his job to save lives and this ensures that even the littlest of lives can be saved. 

“For me, I know I’ve worked as a foster parent in the past. I definitely have a lot of interest in making sure that children are safe,” McDonald said. 

According to North Carolina Health and Human Services, from 2007 to October 2023, there have been an estimated 20 safe surrenders. 

Five of those occurred in 2020.