More and more students are applying for adoption in case of unwanted pregnancy

Students who hide their pregnancy under thick sweaters and give birth alone, it still happens in the Netherlands. Stichting Beschermde Wieg, which helps women in all phases of an unwanted pregnancy, has seen the group of students grow in recent years. ‘Above all, these women want to prevent parental interference.’

It sounds like a story from another time. Yet last year a student gave birth alone in her student house. She immediately went out onto the street to give the baby up for adoption, wrapped in a blanket.

Kitty Nusteling, operational director at the Beschermde Wieg foundation, has seen these types of students more and more in recent years. ‘Sometimes they take another exam the following week.’ Every year, around 1,500 women contact the Beschermde Wieg foundation for help in all phases of pregnancy. This can involve a listening ear, advice, shelter or medical support, or giving babies up for adoption. This year, the foundation has already facilitated seven births of women who wanted to give their child up for adoption, three of whom were still studying. Two of those births were in Amsterdam.

Whether this also means that the number of students in the Netherlands who hide a pregnancy is increasing is difficult to say. However, Nusteling does see more women who only use natural contraception, methods to prevent pregnancy without hormonal agents, which are less reliable. Nusteling. 'In addition, there is always a number X, the women who do not report to us. Research shows that women who want their child never to be found succeed in their plan.'

No parental interference

The reason why women contact the Beschermde Wieg foundation is almost always universal. Nusteling. ‘It often concerns women or couples who do not want any interference from parents or others in their environment, avoid care for a very long time, hide their pregnancy and only start thinking about the delivery at the end of the pregnancy.’

This also applies to students, who sometimes repress a pregnancy. ‘Students are often busy, pay little attention to their bodies and sometimes only find out late that they are pregnant. Sometimes the 22 weeks for abortion have already passed. There are also women who do not want an abortion, based on their religion, upbringing or their own convictions. These women wear large sweaters, give birth in the hospital – or alone – and take exams the following week.’

That sounds like a story from the 1960s and 1970s, when there was a great taboo on getting pregnant out of wedlock and thousands of girls and women secretly carried their pregnancies to term and forced their children to be adopted. The judgment of ‘immorality’ no longer applies, says Nusteling. ‘Yet students are still afraid of disappointing their parents and shame plays a role. I often hear: my parents will think this is incredibly stupid.’

For students who have come to the Netherlands from St. Maarten and Curaçao to study, the expectations of parents are sometimes sky-high. ‘The students are the hope of the family. The idea is that with a baby, there will be little point in studying.’

Abandonment rooms in the NetherlandsNot so long ago, abandoning your child was punishable in the Netherlands. Anyone caught could expect a four-year prison sentence. Nevertheless, around four to six abandoned babies were found each year in the Netherlands, in shopping bags or garbage cans.

In 2014, the Beschermde Wieg foundation opened the first Beschermde Wieg room in Papendrecht to prevent this. Since 2019, foundling rooms have been tolerated in the Netherlands and there are fourteen rooms in hospitals, including one in the Amsterdam UMC.

Above all, these students want to prevent parental interference. ‘Parents quickly come up with proposals to keep the child in the family. Many students see this interference coming – no matter how well-intentioned – and decide, sometimes with a partner, to arrange it all themselves.’

Stichting Beschermde Wieg also helps women and couples to tell their parents about their pregnancy. ‘Sometimes we go with women to their parents. And it’s always not too bad. Most parents respond with: have you had to bear this all this time on your own? Ultimately, the biggest judgment is what people have about themselves.’

Foundling room in Amsterdam UMC

On January 29, 2024, the Beschermde Wieg foundation also opened a foundling room at the Amsterdam UMC. Women can leave their child there completely anonymously. The foundling room can be found next to the first aid at Amsterdam UMC location AMC, so the door is always open. There is a crib in the room with two puzzle pieces that fit together. The mother can take one with her, so that she can find her child again later if she reports to the Beschermde Wieg foundation. There is also a button in the room that the woman can press if she still wants help.

Since the opening of the baby room, no babies have been brought in anonymously. Nusteling: ‘We see that most women call first, sometimes just to ask if the room is open. We then suggest coming to the room. Then we can have a conversation and discuss the mother's situation. Women can also have a doctor assess whether everything is going well, anonymously if desired.’

However, since 2014, a baby room has only been used anonymously three times in the Netherlands. ‘That does not mean that it is not a success,’ says Nusteling. ‘17 women have given up their baby for adoption in the Netherlands in the past year. We would like every hospital to have a room, so that women always have the option of leaving their child anonymously and safely. At the same time, we also want the rooms to remain empty.’

Leaving a baby anonymously is in conflict with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that every child has the right to know who they are descended from. Nusteling: ‘That is why we opted for a room, and not a hatch as is customary in Germany. Then a mother can more easily put her child in the hatch and leave. A room invites more conversation.’