Abandoned baby back with mother

The newborn baby boy abandoned in a shoebox in a Cospicua alley 10 weeks ago was recently reunited with his family and is growing under the watchful eye of his mother.

The boy is still the responsibility of the Family Minister after the objections against the care order raised by the 19-year-old mother were dismissed in court, sources told The Times.

In the meantime, the baby, who was discharged from hospital in April, had been placed in the temporary care of a foster family. However, sensitive to the fact that the mother plays a pivotal role in the baby's development, the social workers established a rapport with her relatives to determine whether or not they could be trusted with the child's care and custody. Satisfied that the mother's uncles and aunts, who live just four doors down from her, could be trusted, the boy was put in their care.

"Obviously, living so close means the mother is raising the baby herself with the support of relatives. Our experience has shown that this arrangement is working well," the sources said.

"Having said this, the case is not closed and the social workers are regularly monitoring the situation. After what happened, everybody realised this was a grave situation and a cautious approach was adopted.

"So although the mother is involved every step of the way, she is not the baby's legal guardian as the care order is still in force."

When contacted, Joe Gerada, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, confirmed that the baby was with his next of kin until Appogg and the Family Minister felt they could drop the care order.

The baby's dramatic story started to unfold on April 1 when three teenagers playing in Triq Guliermu heard a noise coming from a shoebox that was inside a plastic bag.

Through first-hand accounts from the girl's grandmother and close relatives, it was established that the mother had hid her pregnancy from everyone, giving birth alone at home in the morning.

The mother then wrapped the baby boy in a beach towel and placed him inside a shoebox, before driving off to pick up her mother from Hamrun, barely two hours after.

The boy's mother was apparently waiting for nightfall to pass him on to the nuns in Zabbar.

But her plans were foiled when her 37-year-old mother discovered the shoe box in the washroom, and mistaking it for refuse, took it to Triq Guliermu, just round the corner from her house, where residents regularly leave their rubbish for collection.