The story of the abandoned newborn baby left outside the Ursuline Sisters’ convent in Tal-Virtù provided some relief from the boring news about the parliamentary sitting taking place at the same time. By the evening we even knew the baby was a girl, and had been christened Carla.

Why was no gentle reassuring appeal immediately made for the mother or the relatives to come forward? Why was the child baptised so quickly? Why were we even told the baby’s gender and name? Why was the child whisked off to hospital when the doctor saw that the child was healthy? Why were the police and not Appoġġ called in?

I have no idea what the law states about such a matter.

What I know is that a woman will live with pangs of regret and fear for the rest of her life and a child will grow into a woman not knowing her mother and who she really is.

Surely there are more discreet ways of dealing with such matters in this day and age.