2022 Podcasts

The Miracle Baby

On September 10, 2001, New York City newspapers reported that a newborn baby girl was found alone on a rock in Central Park — with her umbilical cord and placenta still attached. They said the baby was abandoned. And the mother could potentially face charges for leaving her child unsafe in one of the biggest parks in the world.

Around the same time, New York had just enacted the Abandoned Infant Protection Act, which allowed a mother to legally and safely relinquish her child to a fire department, police department, hospital or church. People around the city wondered: Why wouldn't the baby's mom take advantage of the law, known as the Safe Haven law, and save herself the trouble?

"The Miracle Baby" is about the journey of two curious reporters searching for the baby born just before 9/11, also looking to find out what societal conditions would lead a mom to feel like abandonment was the only choice. They encounter a world of inaccurate reporting, a man who helps deliver babies for a living, and a now 20-year-old woman who may or may not know her origin story.