Christmas Baby

I held a new born baby, last week. At two weeks old, the little chap was well wrapped up and bundled in a warm blanket. What was unusual about this baby was his surroundings. We were in a cell in a police station. His mother, a rape victim was in jail for absconding. Her case highlighted for me some of the challenges that face workers in Kuwait. She does not want to go through the lengthy process of a court case to fight for justice – she simply wants to go home – with the baby.

Giving birth to children outside of wedlock is a crime in Kuwait. Even rape victims are treated as criminals unless proved otherwise. To register a birth in Kuwait requires the father’s identity and a marriage certificate. No father and no marriage certificate means no birth certificate can be issued easily. This means that mother and child can spend months in jail. Embassies can help, but they can only respond if the police inform them. In the case above, this little fellow is sharing a small cell with a dozen other women with one toilet between them. Supplies are minimal and his diet is unpredictable. We discovered that he was regularly fed mineral water. The police, though sympathetic were unable to do much. We offered sanctuary, but was told the baby is a ward of state for the time being. Upon contacting the embassy of the rape victim I was told that they had no knowledge of the mother or the baby. They would come they assured me, if the police will call them.

Giving birth to a baby is hard at the best of times, but if you know that your baby is illegal and that a jail sentence is inevitable, I wonder what you would do? For a maid, with little money and opportunity, they often feel that they have no choice but to get rid of the baby as soon as possible without being caught. The result is that babies are born in secret and then abandoned to die. Precise statistics are obviously hard to get.

If a baby is found before it dies, the child is placed in a ward at hospital and efforts are made to locate the parents. If after thirty days no parents are found, then the baby is placed in an orphanage and given Kuwaiti citizenship. Sometimes they are taken in by local families, but expatriates are not allowed to adopt orphans. Several expatriates have tried to adopt orphan children but have been
told outright that this is impossible. While the orphanage is well supplied, no institution can ever be a substitute for a loving family.

Babies are a gift from God. Society is entrusted with their care, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Illegitimacy and poverty is no barrier to the potential opportunities and achievements of a child. We are forcefully reminded of this by the baby born at Christmas time. Born in a crude stable of questionable parentage, Jesus reminds us of how God identifies with the poor and the
weak in our society. His life and work provokes us to once again look at the most vulnerable in our society with care and respect.