MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana police officer and his wife have adopted an infant months after she was surrendered at a baby box where people can anonymously leave newborns at firehouses.
Mishawaka police officer Bruce Faltynski and his wife, Shelby, added Myah to their family on Friday, which was National Adoption Day.
Myah was a newborn when she was surrendered earlier this year at a Safe Haven Baby Box in northwestern Indiana's Lake County. The baby boxes are named after the Indiana Safe Haven Law, which enables a person to give up an infant no more than 45 days old anonymously and without fear of arrest or prosecution.
“We are so grateful for Myah’s birth mom. She made a really courageous decision," Shelby Faltynski told WNDU-TV.
In March, she and her husband finalized the adoption of their 8-year-old daughter, Kaia.
Weeks later, they received a call from Indiana’s Department of Child Services informing them that another child — the newborn the couple named Myah — also needed a home.
"I think we just feel overwhelmed with gratitude," the Faltynskis said. "I think that is how, yeah it has been a really long wait and just a journey of yeah, just surrendering our plans."
After she was surrendered, Myah was admitted to a hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, where doctors determined she had suffered a stroke. But the Faltynskis say she is now doing well and is meeting all of her young milestones.
