I don't understand why this mother just didn't call an adoption agency and say, "I'd like to give up my baby."

There would have been a thousand takers immediately.

I wish someone would abandon a child on my doorstep (along with the birth certificate and hand written letter for guardianship). I still do not understand why people like this can reproduce and people like myself who can offer a good home filled with love and happiness cannot have children!!

Some people just aren't made out to be parents. You know what I mean Julieann. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Let's beat the crap out of the FATHER for not being there too. Afterall, the mother did not impregnant herself.

J.M. while I hate deadbeat dads, judging by how messed up this woman is she could be the reason daddy isn't around.

@Julieann - I hope your wish comes true someday...people who adopt are amazing parents.

I don't think she is sick in the head, she is selfish. Where is the prolife movement to help with idiots like this who think it's cool to have kids, but then don't want to be bothered with them. The authorities better not give this whore back her child.

Hopefully, the child will be taken from her permanently and adopted by a family that will love her and treat her like the precious human being she is.

Yes, Prayerfully adopted and not put in foster care. Julieann, I pray God blesses you w a child.

Parenting isn't easy; I wish more people realized this before they... But there is no excuse for abandoning or abusing a baby/child. For goodness sake people, use birth control.

This woman should be sterilized...period. What a selfish POS. She and the two clowns that abused the 18 yr boy should all be exterminated. Tired tired tired of idiots.

Nah! Let's tie her to a tree for 48 hours, then throw her sorry hiney in jail for a couple years. Oh, yah, we should sever her parental rights, and let someone that wants a child adopt. This is a sad specimen of humanity, and if someone comes up with mental incompetence, lets send them to jail, also.

Oh please spare us the "she's mentally ill" no. She's a selfish whore who got herself knocked up and she decided to do the irresponsible thing and abandon a kid helpless in the woods. There's tons of alternatives out there and she could have chosen those. But no, she opted to be a dumb twat and do the stupid thing.

I hope she finds her 'fresh' start in prison at the end of a sock full of quarters.

Well, she got her wish for a "fresh start," with a nice, fresh, shiny-new criminal record (hopefully a felony record) that will follow her for life... I hope!

Julieanne, Hoping your dreams become a reality very soon.

Mental illness obviously has nothing to do with this situation!! As evidenced by several above posts the best course of action is to slap felonies all over this woman and lock her up in prison or drop her off in the middle of the woods with a bottle of milk to show her the err of her ways and everything will magically turn out like a fairy tale and all will live happily ever after!!! It's that simple!!

Unfortunately, anyone that thinks they have so little responsibility to their progeny that they can simply drop them off at the nearest woods are the same sort that suddenly wake up one morning and decide they want their child back. And sadly enough, too many laws give them that right...as in the recent case of the 13 y.o. boy that was dug up from under the dog cage where he had spent most of his young life.

I'm a lib to the core, but I don't believe for a minute that the kind of laws that send an abused or abandoned child back to their abuser are in any way correct. I also believe that women like this "mother" are useless pieces of trash that don't deserve to breathe the air.

Mentally ill? Ha...the ones that were mentally ill were the ones that raised her, educated her, and let her believe that she knew it all. In other words, she's a sociopath, and can't be rehabilitated, ever.

This time, I hope the justice system grants her wish and gives her a 'fresh start' in the afterlife.

Brutforce, That has nothing to do with it. What a stupid comment.

Where did you get your medical degree paddywhack? Unless and until you or a close family member had suffered a mental illness please refrain from making idiotic comments about it. Mental illness takes a myriad of forms and faces. We don't know if this woman is mentally ill. She may not be but don't dismiss her as a whore or sociopath based upon a news blurb.

You have no idea what this woman may have been going through. Be it mental illness or otherwise. Judge not lest YOU be judged. I'm not defending her actions because I don't know what caused them and until I do, until we all do, I just think we should refrain from being judge, jury and executioner.

They need to tack on an attempted murder charge.

@J.M.-1573792, you are an idiot. You have no idea what the father's involvement is, and with the information given, he had nothing to do with HER horrific actions.

THANKFULLY, the neighbor was so attentive.

“I have never see anything like this. I don’t know how anyone could leave a child in the woods and walk away,” said Zappala.

WTF MAN! Need I say more?

GM CD, you said it all.

J.M.-1573792

Let's beat the crap out of the FATHER for not being there too. Afterall, the mother did not impregnant herself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, ok, so every time a morally bankrupt mother dose something wrong it is a dead beat dad behind it all? Sorry, that is unreal thinking on your part. We have no idea what is going on because the story dose not go so far as to tell us where dad is.

Start understanding Morally bankrupt mothers don't need any help messing their child's life up. They do a bang up job all on their own.

Silverton, perhaps some sex-ed classes in school would have given her the knowledge that that was an option. People aren’t born with the knowledge that adoption agencies exist and would want to help. I think that 24 is an age where she should be held responsible for her actions (she should have known better), but there are a lot of uneducated people out there! School systems are out front line against ignorance. Unfortunately, many religious organizations actively oppose sex-ed classes…

Narcissism is not a mental illness per say. But I suppose if it poses a danger to you or others it is - the definition of mental pathology. So I guess narcissism in this case is mental illness.

I really get sick of hearing how if there was sex education in the schools these things wouldn't happen because these young adults would know that they have options. There was no such thing as sex education when I was in school back in the dark ages, yet we knew that we had options. There is information all over the place and if people are as you want to say uneducated about their options, it is because they want to be. It comes down more to not caring then not knowing. It didn't stop the people that didn't care then and it won't stop the people that don't care now. I'm sorry but nowadays will all the information that is out there, there is no excuse for not knowing about your options unless you live in a cave.

We don't take very good care of mothers and young children in the US. Too many are destitute or dependent upon abusive men.

I am hoping that she indeed has a mental illness that caused her to abandon her child. But at least she isn't pure evil; she didn't out right kill her baby. And she did leave a bottle of milk with the child. It sounds like she had a mental break, I am glad the neighbor saw her. It sounds like this mother was crying out for help more than trying to harm her child.

I'm surprised no one mentioned how wonderful it is that someone was paying attention and observed this mother walk into the woods with her child and leave without the child. Would you have noticed this?

Mom2Five-3579602

I am hoping that she indeed has a mental illness that caused her to abandon her child. But at least she isn't pure evil; she didn't out right kill her baby. And she did leave a bottle of milk with the child. It sounds like she had a mental break, I am glad the neighbor saw her. It sounds like this mother was crying out for help more than trying to harm her child.

In some ways it was more monstrous then outright killing the child. Imagine being a baby in the woods alone with 1 bottle. even if the child could use the bottle on it's own it would eventually run out and the child would starve alone in the woods. Also, it is still cold in PA this time of year, so now add exposure.

Yeah, she was a real winner for setting her child up to die a relatively slow freezing starving death all alone in the woods.

The suffering that child would have endured would have been unimaginable before death.

Lovely: My thoughts too. Heck, in this day and age where few people even know who there neighbors are, it is refreshing to know that people still care.

What's up with the child endangerment charge? How about attempted murder?

mom2five: Hard to figure this one out, at least based on what's in the article. She didn't say should couldn't handle it anymore, which is something that dawns on a lot of moms, but they manage to continue on. She just said she wanted a fresh start, which sounds very cold. Is there a difference? I don't know, but it does come across differently to me. But, it could be just the way the article is written, which seems more and more frequently to be intentionally misleading these days just so there is a story to write about.

Morning Creek Dog

This was less than 5 miles from my house.

Don't you hate it when your local news becomes national news for something like this?

It would be soooo nice to post about something good that happens, you know...

@cory1980

You don't have to look hard for good news. The reason you do not see it is that it dose not "sell". I am betting that in the time it took this "women" to leave her child in the woods there where at least 5 or 6 people saved around the world from natural disasters, car accidents, air craft crashes.. You get the idea.

Lovely-2035151

I'm surprised no one mentioned how wonderful it is that someone was paying attention and observed this mother walk into the woods with her child and leave without the child. Would you have noticed this?

That might be because many good people simply recognize that act is being automatically human. If we are all so pathetic in our social structure that we have to be surprised at the human act of a stranger, then we have far more to worry about then the creeps in government or terrorists.

As for if I would have noticed this situation.. It depends on literally 1000s of variables. If I would have seen this, I would have investigated what happened to the child for sure and OFC called the cops. This however should not be unexpected and I would not want a cookie for doing the human and just thing.

@Mom2five - I don't see abandoning your baby in the woods as an act of compassion. Obviously, the INTENT was to murder her baby, because a child that age has zero chance of survival. At that age, it's not mobile enough to even wander out of the woods by chance.

The only reason this child is alive is because of an observant and diligent neighbor.

Maybe she knew the neighbor was watching.... I don't know I really have a hard time wrapping my head around mothers harming/abandoning their children. She was 24(?), I made mistakes and had my first just before I turned 20. I was overwhelmed but I never thought of hurting my helpless daughter.

I get the feeling that the classification for mental illness is doing something most of us wouldnt do.

and frankly, thats a crappy way of classifying it.

most of us wouldnt do this because we arent: heartless, selfish, cold, indifferent, callous, shallow, worthless, stupid, arrogant, and a million other things.

but mental illness isnt one of them.

you dont have to be mentally ill to be a complete jerk, you just have to be a complete jerk period.

Leaves me speechless.

QE - couldnt have said it better.

I don't spend a lot of time looking out my windows, watching my neighbors movement. The reason I dont do this, is because im not nosey and I like to respect my neighbors privacy as they are out and about in their yards.

I lived next door to someone for about 6 years who didnt understand this concept, and daily peeped out her windows - all day long - watching her neighbors.

It makes you feel like you cant just sit in your own yard and enjoy the sunshine, because your neighbor is just staring you down...like WTF? go watch Maury Provich if you're that bored.

But like you said, if I had seen it...i'd have done something, like any normal human would.

It's odd to me to consider her a hero...she was just doing what people should do.

Have we set the bar so low?

J.M.-1573792

Some people just aren't made out to be parents. You know what I mean Julieann. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

So...let me get this straight...if the Lord controls 'everything' then why did he let this happen?? I suppose you're going to say 'the Devil made her do it'....read 'mysterious', think 'only fools believe'....

For those saying we can't judge her due to her mental illness: um, yes...we CAN judge her. We judge people ALL the time. If we didn't, there wouldn't be a police force or a criminal justice system. A mental illness is a REASON, but not an EXCUSE for doing something bad. I am not saying this lightly. I have struggled with SEVERE postpartum depression after all 3 of my children. I never hurt my children. I am very horrified to admit that there was a time with all 3 of my children that I was so numb with depression that I thought about how wonderful it would be if my children did not wake up. But there was a voice deep down in me that knew I had to keep my kids safe. I felt no attachment to any of them for the first few months of their lives and yet I went through the motions of taking care of them every day because inside the voice of reason said that was what was right. Believe me, I hate to admit any of that stuff. I haven't told anyone those things because I am too embarassed to admit that I had those thoughts. I am thankful to say that I did, indeed, recover from each bout of depression and love all of my children more than I thought possible. They are happy and healthy and we enjoy a fulfilling life as a family with my husband. But what if I had neglected my kids or hurt them? Should that have been excused because I had a "mental illness" at the time? No way. In the end, either people know deep down right from wrong, and if they either ignore it or truly do not have a sense of morality, they need to be punished and kept from society.

And the anti-abortion crowd would have us believe that dying alone in the woods is a better option.

We live in a throwaway society and the woman took this to heart. Several have asked about the father. My bet is she was leaving him too. There seems to be no mention of a father that I saw in the article. Her starting "fresh" meant erasing her previous life altogether. Kind of a child mentality...if I can't see it, it went away.

I don't pretend to know why, when there are places to drop off unwanted kids, a parent chooses to think that allowing the child to die will somehow go unnoticed. This is a story as old as Hansel and Gretel, yet now with safe "drop off" places you would think that they would be used. (Actually, they have been - for kids as old as seventeen!)

It does seem to me that commercials and the media in general portray parenthood as a series of happy Kodak moments, setting an unrealistic expectation in the minds of parents who, I'm guessing, did not plan their children in the first place and were unequipped to face the responsibility. However, that is not an excuse for not simply admitting that you want to put up your kid for adoption.

I think we will see more and more of these stories, unfortunately, even as the extreme right ramps up its efforts to criminalize all family planning.

Some females in their late teens and early 20's have babies because it's "glamorous" to them and their retarded girlfriends. But once that child "arrives" and OH MY GOSH there's actual WORK involved in being a mother!?!?!?!?, and what happened to my social life?!?! Then they want their "fresh start". I don't even wanna say what I think should be done to this so called woman.

I too hope that you get your wish, Julieann - and maybe even adopt this particular child? She certainly needs someone!

No Enneagram1, adoption is the better option.

Our "society" and "morals" have crumbled.

It would be interesting to have more information on this "young mother" and her immediate family BEFORE the court of public opinion remarks.

Her young daughter was apparently saved from a more sinister act, thank God.

Agree with Becky on sterilization - but that's not going to happen. A couple days ago a Grandma picked up her two grandsons from daycare and shot them and herself. Susan smith, drowned her three, Casey Anthony. Thankfully a neighbor saw this walk in the woods and checked it out. A kid is saved. But look at the mentally unstable people in the news killing with guns too. There is a lot of mental illness out here. What is going on ? are these levels of mental illness normal ?

Maybe Bruteforce has some evidence that President Obama knocked her up @?@

Postpartum depression is a bitch.

My mom did that...to our cat. But the cat found its way home 3 months later.

Probably another one talked into having the child by a Pro Life group. How's that working out?

Or maybe a couple of years ago she thought she would try out for a spot on "Teen Mom". It's just that damn prop department would not take the baby when she was done with it. It's all their fault she didn't get auditioned. agree hboogy

To all of you "people" on this thread that are so quick to judge this woman. I don't agree with what she did (obviously) nor am I trying to make it seem like it's not a big deal (It's a HUGE deal as we all know). However, this woman does seem to be suffering from some sort of mental illness. I know many people may not be aware of the signs of different types of mental illnesses (which is why this country needs better education on the matter and removal of the sigmatism that comes with it) but this woman was clearly not in touch with reality (warning sign). Does anyone with a normal brain function think that people won't notice that she was pregnant for 9 months (at least three of which were fairly obvious) had a child for 8 months and suddenly there is no kid? This is not a person functioning on a normal level. Does anyone "normal" think that an 8 month old could feed themselves properly and with only one bottle? Clearly to anyone who has any idea, this woman needed mental health help. She may have had problems before the baby was even born. No one is saying that this all resulted from post-partem depression. We need better education about mental illness in this country (as is clear to me by all of the posts above). That's the only way the stigma of these problems can be reduced. It's hard for that to happen when someone who is not using reason (mentally ill, possibly schizophrenic)does something horrendous like this but anyone could have this illness and would you like to be schizophrenic and locked in prison with hardened criminals? Trust me, you wouldn't. Mental health facilities are bad enough.

No one in their right mind would do something this sick. Hence, she is mentally ill. But mental illness is like alcohol abuse--it can't be used to excuse everything, because people almost always have some control over their actions. Something like this requires a huge conscious effort and for that reason she must face harsh justice.

As for our attitudes on mental illness, wishing that mental illness didn't exist won't make it go away. Schizophrenia, depression etcetera are real phenomenon that only some people are unlucky enough to experience. Just like only some people suffer from allergies and used to be dismissed as 'wusses' until they ended up in the hospital.

So? I hate to be heartless but lots of kids are murdered by their parents. For every mother who abandons her child, there are a dozen who have been abandoned by their "parents"(note, I'm not choosing to pick or blame either gender). For every Casey Andrews, there is a husband who went psycho and killed his wife AND children. I think we as society hold women to a higher standard in terms of childcare - which is why we list these women that the women sensationalized because they killed their kids. That's why this article is getting this much traction. (I would list names for the men who have killed their children, but really - there are too many and I never really cared to remember their names. You could always look this information up. Usually - there is some combination of guns, wife killed, kids killed, and then, the last FU when the man kills himself.)

Crazy is crazy. It doesn't have to have outward signs such as talking to oneself and wearing your clothes inside out. It could be something that has been diagnosed since one was a kid or something that just happened during a stressful time in this woman's life. (After all, men have been getting away with murder by using the "crime of passion" excuse. We condemn it but are we really surprised when yet another women who has a restraining order is killed, sometimes when they ironically are renewing their paper restraining order?) This woman will probably undergo psychiatric evaluation and there, the PROFESSIONALS will assess her mental status. If she's crazy - she will have to get therapy. If she isn't, she'll be charged with child abandonment. Personally - I think the woman snapped. Why else leave a bottle of milk? But again - I'll leave it to the professionals to assess her condition.

#1.49 Weallhaveoptions - No Enneagram1, adoption is the better option.

Fine. Are you going to adopt some parent-less kids? I thought not. More than 120,000 children are waiting to be adopted in the United States. More than 60% come from minority cultures. The majority are boys. Many have emotional, physical and learning disabilities, or mental retardation. Are you willing to adopt any of these kids? No, you aren't. So who is supposed to? The man in the moon? These kids get bounced around in foster homes until they are 18, then put out on the streets where society has to deal with them. A really good life, eh?? GET REAL!

so, enneagran1, you propose it's better that all those kids just would have been aborted instead? I don't understand the pro-abortion group, who feel that life is so @!$%#tie for so many, that it's just better to abort them before they enter life. If you really think death is better than life, then show us through example. And the fact that you so quickly asked if they were going to adopt, then immediately answered the question for them, speaks more about you, than them. Who knows if they were willing to adopt, but that fact should not be the deciding factor in determining to exterminate a life before it gets a chance to even start.

We get it, you think abortion is the greatest thing to have happened to society. Pathetic if you ask me.

#1.61 Filbert - If you really think death is better than life, then show us through example. ... you think abortion is the greatest thing to have happened to society.

You tell me what I'm thinking, yet you say that I should not think for others. Then you make bold statements about me that are presumptuous, to say the least. So in addition to being a foul-mouthed, crude person, with limited vocabulary (otherwise you could have expressed yourself more politely), you're a hypocrite. Just want to be sure who I am dealing with here. My question remains: who is going to give these unwanted kids any kind of a decent life instead of making them wish they had never been born? It's a pretty good assumption it's not going to be YOU, now is it?

We get it, ...

Who's 'we'? You appear to be alone in your asinine statements.

Luckily, the child is said to be fine, and I hope will be adopted by parents who will cherish the child.

But for all of you who are wishing gruesome (and sometimes slightly kinky) punishments for this woman, please realize that you sound like the barbarians in the middle east who still stone people (especially women) to death. Do you really want to stoop that low?

Somebody needs to beat the crap out of the clueless pie-eyed district attorney who is astonished that a woman would commit such a crime and just didn't have any idea it could happen. "I have never seen anything like this."Well you should have seen it Buddy,because it's seen you plenty of times. Maybe not a child being left to die in the woods,but felony child abuse perpetrated by women goes on every day.Female abusers COUNT on guys like Zappala having a hard time believing they could do such a thing.

If the baby's father had committed the crime Mr. Zappala wouldn't have sent him for a psych eval this soon and his bond wouldn't be $50,000.If a man committed the same crime he'd be UNDER the jail and his bond would be at least half a million.

People with attitudes like Zappala's are a big part of the reason women get by with far more crimes like this than men.Guys like him are most likely the reason this "woman" (thing) whatever it is thought it would get by with this heinous crime.

Let's beat the crap out of the FATHER for not being there too. Afterall, the mother did not impregnant herself.

Wrong answer. She kept her legs together and this would not have happened, Women profess to be more intellectually developed and all to often they are made the fool by some yoyo that wants nothing more than a few minutes of fun.

Why didn't she go to court and make him have 50/50 custody, pay child support, or give the child up for adoption? Oh yeah she was too smart.

How do you know she even told the father. Did the shewoman man haters club tell you.

enneagram, you could have characterized my childhood as not optimal (violent alcoholic for one parent and learning disabled for the other), yet I am within "normal" limits for functioning as an adult (I worked until I had my son), I have a college degree from a "selective" university and we are in the top 5% financially. So every kid with a tough background is not better off aborted because I know kids from "good" families who are worse off. You only spend the first 18 years with your parents and the rest is up to you. I know children have several risk factors for attachment disorders when they are in this situation, but honestly, do we tell poor unmarrieds NOT to have children? of course not. Well being poor and unmarried ARE two of the biggest risk factors for mental illness.... maybe we should have a public policy extolling the virtues of commitment? Of course I don't have the answers, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Enneagram, the pro abortion (child killer) crowd sees nothing wrong with this. For them its either this or have the child's brain vacuumed out while still alive. Nice. Real nice.

I agree, dump her off in the woods. Just drop her off from oh, say, 30,000 feet!

KUDOS, to the neighbor who saw this unfolding TRAJEDY! This is Mental Illness in One of its MANY Forms! NOW, If we could do the same with GUNS!

THANKS STUDIO STEVE FOR RECOGNIZING THE NEIGHBOR who reported it. Someone who finally spoke up and kept this from being a horrible tragedy. Many, many, many thanks.

The neighbor is a hero. Good job for recognizing that walking into the woods with a baby is a little suspicious. I'm glad the neighbor remained diligent enough to wait for her to come out.

Why didn't the woman just seek an adoption agency? How hard is that?

I have never see anything like this. I don’t know how anyone could leave a child in the woods and walk away.

I would like to add "in PA during February." to the last sentence.

As for never seeing anything like this... c'mon. What Susan Smith did to her 2 boys was worse than this.

Hey the woman did that kid a huge favor, although still unsure why she felt she could not take the kid somewhere safe and just officially terminate her rights. Or drop him at a Fire Station. By the time they figured out the kid was older than the safe haven law - she would have been gone.

This kid will now get a new Mom and Dad who have been dying to meet him/her.

There is certainly not enough information in this article to make a realistic judgement about what's and whys this mother did this. She evidently didn't hurt the baby prior to leaving her and left her with a bottle of milk, indicating some level of concern. She more than likely has a mental problem or illness that would compel her to do what she did, plus we have no way of knowing what challenges she may have dealt with prior to this act. A person thinking rationally would know they could leave the child at a hospital or fire station, but it is doubtful this woman was thinking rationally and capable of making a proper decision. We don't have the right to make the kinds of judgements some are making here without more information. We don't know she is a terrible person, nor do we know if she is a single mom or not or whether illness might be causing this type of irrational behavior. The harsh judgement should be held until more information is forthcoming.

...through her nose.

the reason does not matter, all that matters is the mother did it. do not try to make excuses for attempted murder.

TC, you might consider some anger management courses. Geeze, chill out before you rupture a vessel.

TC....PPD is no laughing matter. It can be very mild in some women and in others it can be so sever that they inflict harm on themselves and the baby. When it goes untreated and the woman continues to have children PPD gradually gets worse...just as it did with Andrea Yates. Her husband, the Bible thumper, refused to get his wife (Andrea Yates) the help that she needed and just kept impregnating her. Eventually it grew so far out of control that she is now in jail for life, after stabilizing her on medication and mental health therapy, while he got off scott free and remarried.

A good friend of mine suffered a sever case. The morning she had the baby I went to visit her in the hospital. She was staring straight and every time someone handed her the baby she would pass it to someone else and showed no concern or love for the baby. I pulled her husband outside the room and told him to ask her doctor about PPD. Sure enough, I got a panicked phone call to watch the baby. My friend was hospitalized for nearly 3 months. The baby was almost 4 months old by the time she was able to go home to a safe environment but for nearly a year she could not be left alone with the child for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Go read up on PPD before you start knocking it!!

Or he, like I, don't believe in excusing these peoples actions with something, just like ADHD. She knew exactly what she was doing, nothing else made her do it, she should suffer severely for leaving a child out to be drug off by some animal.

Uh Julieann, I don't think their arguement was that PPD is a joke or it should be over looked. Their areguement is it should not be an excuse for trying to leave a child or anyone for dead. It understandable to want to know why a person does something but not to excuse wrong people do. That is the reason why our world is the way it is. People make to many excuses or justifications for people's actions. There is no longer accountability or responsibility in the actions people make. All you is for someone to be overly sympathetic to feel sorry for you and your able to get away with or lessen some of the consequence. What ever her issue is it does not matter. She tried to kill her baby by abandoning it. There no excuse. She should have Woman Up and takening responsibility for the life she brought into the world. Then to act like a selffish, self centered and narcissistic six year looking for a way to get out of her responsibility. We are living in a world. Where people think the world and everyone in it revolve around them and they must have everything go their way.

I agree I can understand the want to know why a person is doing what they are
doing but that excuse to want to excuse or justify their actions. That the
reason why our world is the way it is, because to many people are over
sympathetic and want excuse people's actions. You are allowing the selfish, self-centered,
self-absorbed, arrogant, vain and narcissistic in this world to get away with
their actions. By saying oh you no longer have to take responsibility for your
actions and face the consequences. No just act like an undisciplined and
spoiled sissified 6 year old and bitch, whining, mope and blame someone or
something else for your own actions. I'm sorry I cannot be this person,
somebody at least has to stand up and speak out against being over sympathetic
and allowing the dumbasses of our society to continue to screw over our world
with their actions.

Maybe the father doesn't know he had a child or he could be deadbeat. Maybe he is in the military or in jail. I for one am sick and tired of stupid women like this who are quick to get pregnant, keep the kid and abuse the kid. This is why I have a problem with folks getting pregnant for fun.

I was wondering if the subject Post Partum Depression was going to come up. If we're so concerned about mental illness for the likes of Adam Lanza, why not for someone like her too?

tim: Maybe Adam Lanza's mother had PPD.

Julieann: I see you repeated the National Organization of Women's hate diatribe against Andrea Yates husband. Think if men tried the "my hormones made me do it" excuse to defend rapists.

RevSpinnaker-usually the excuse men use is "she asked for it".

RevSpinnaker- Learn a little about PPD and you won't sound like such an insensitive lout. Then learn a little about mental illness. I sincerely hope that the "Rev" is just your newsvine handle. I shudder to think that you might be actually preaching your ignorance.

I have a mental illness and if I ever did anything to endanger anyone else while I'm having a breakdown, I would fully expect to be held responsible for it. She can be treated (if she is actually ill), but she still has to suffer the consequences for her actions. That's just how it is.

'That's just how it is'?

'Let those among you without sin cast the first stone.'

There are many people here who must be perfect. I wouldn't imagine there would be that many sinless individuals here.

'Judge not lest je also be judged.'

That one is self-explanatory.

Amynoelle, any woman who suffers from post partum depression is not responsible for what she does during that time. It's a real illness. None of us know what this woman's plans were when she left her child in the wood. She may have planned to call someone, the police, the fire department, a friend, to tell them where the baby was. Her neighbour interfered with her plan, perhaps saving the child. Or not, we do not know.

Do you claim to be a Christian? Then you must love not only the infant but the mother. Your self-righteousness is showing.

How will an 8 month old always know her mother did this to her?? If the child is taken away for good and adopted she won't know.

J.M. some traumatic events can still come back, even at an early age like that. Let's just hope it doesn't.

Some states have up to 2 years! Twenty-eight days hardly seems like enough time. My sister had it easy with her first child because he slept all the time. He always had to be woken up to be fed otherwise that kid pretty much slept his first year. Her second child was just the opposite especially by the time the baby started teething. It is possible that by 8 months it was quite a burden to deal with a crying baby. No one will know what was going on until she speaks to a psychologist. This is no excuse for anyone because she should have called up the state agency for help if she did not want the child or spoke to someone who could have helped her to put the child up for adoption. It may have disappointed her parents but that is not the decision for them to make...it is up to her.

I was looking to see if someone would comment on this, I would've Googled it but couldn't remember the name "safe haven" having trouble getting started this morning ;)

only 28 days? My state (Texas) was the first state to enact this law (it's the baby Moses law here) here you can leave a baby up to 60 days old, which I always thought wasn't enough time.

So sad, thankfully the neighbor was paying attention, kudos to her for most likely saving that child's life!

"Oh no, my baby cries more than just when hungry or wet. It's too hard, i'll just give them up. If only I could have aborted them, then my life would still be a PARTY!!!"

Because of this whole everybodies equal and special BS. People are defective, that's how it is, they need to be treated as such.

Seems more likely to align with the 'every man for himself', personal responsibility crowd, frankly.

Because alicia even though it seems like a no-brainer, we have to think, WHO would decide who can breed and who can't?

The United States actually practiced eugenics at one point, before Nazi Germany did. Reading up on the history of it is kind of scary. It was mostly because of Hitler that we stopped doing it, but some states were still doing it as late as 1977.

aliciakenny,

Did you just endorse forced sterilization? It can never happen, for one simple reason: who gets to decide the rules on the court order? A social worker? A judge? Sterilization is permanent, and I for one am glad that the system still doesn't have that power.

(Dang, 1SGFitz beat me to this response...)

Works for me. Just drop her off from 30,000 feet!

like most do???? wtf are coming from? oh let me venture a guess your p.o.s sperm donor did that to you right?

Where is the father? Who cares? What does that matter? This selfish, ignorant bitch did this to her baby.

WHERE IS THE FATHER?? Oh, let me guess. He abandoned them like most do these days. Should cut off his balls so he can never breed anymore too.

Someone's suffering from some SEVERE anger management issue, presumably (by your repeated "men are evil" style comments even as this article mentions NOTHING of the father) brought on either by your father abandoning your mother or your child's dad abandoning you.

Not every man on the planet is the evil being that you seem to think they are, but the good news is that you can seek assistance if that truly is your belief and your hostility level about men, when this particular article has absolutely NOTHING to do with men whatsoever.

She stated she wanted to have a "fresh start". That does not sound like someone with any kind of depression.

Actually, that's exactly what it sounds like, and unlike some other forms of mental illness, PPD can be treated and will eventually subside.

And some people are all twisted in a knot over gay people adopting. It's not the gay parents you have to worry about, it's the straight people popping out unwanted children and then abandoning them in the woods.

Whatever Mike, that is YOUR opinion. I think the idea of gay people being allowed to marry and adopt is a GOOD idea, think about how many MORE abandoned children could be given loving homes.

I think anyone who is willing to give a child a warm, stable, secure, and loving home deserves to be parents. There are way too many people out there having kids they didn't want, and let the kids know it for the rest of their lives - maybe not through words, but through actions. Selfish, immature people who were too irresponsible to use protection, that they brought a child into the world, knowing full well they didn't have the means or the desire to give that baby a good life. So they neglect them, they leave them with abusive boyfriends, they send them to school unprepared, with empty bellies, they subject them to things no child should EVER see, and these babies grow up never truly having known the unconditional love of a parent. Never feeling worthy of praise. Having only their parent as a role model, they continue this pattern with their own children. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So yeah, if a gay couple wants one of these babies...that would have been "raised" in a home such as this, and is going to give that baby everything...that's A-OK with me.

You are whats wrong with this world. Excusing her actions because shes "sick", people do bad things, and they should be punished for it. You want her to be the parent her daughter deserves? It's too late for that, I hope she never sees her daughter again, she has no right to.

Thatsthewaylovegoes,Excellent comments.She is in dire need of help.Too many doctors and families don't recognize post-partum depression and post-partum psychosis.It appears that she didn't have adequate access to healthcare.

The article I read said she wanted a fresh start. Did you read something different? I suffered from severe PPD and NEVER EVER did I want or think to harm my child or simply"want a fresh start". Don't even confuse PPD with her kind of behaviour. Some women do hurt their babies and some just don't want to shoulder their responsibilities(case in point) and some like me felt they were not good enough for their kids. I "womaned up, got on medication and sought help. To many people try to coddle irresponsible scum. To the people who don't think a logical, level headed person would NEVER do this kind of thing to a baby, take off those rose colored glasses and think again! We live in a society with deviant, selfish scum who would rather watch you burn then put out the fire.

PPD happens. What's more common (especially in our society) is selfishness. This woman seems to be suffering from a bad case of selfishness.

And for the record, children don't care either way - they just suffer the consequences.

Hopefully she will get her "fresh start" in prison.

She may be in "dire need of help" but that does NOT mean she should ever be given this child back! Had it not been for the neighbor that baby would have DIED. To this day I still think Andrea Yates should've been given the death penalty.

People like poster Kim M above are the people we help, not ones who abandon their babies in the woods, or in garbage cans, or drown them in the freeking bathtub!

18 January we laid baby "Jane Doe" to rest in the city next to mine, Killeen TX. Her mother threw her away in a Walmart bathroom. The mother still hasn't been found.

Thatsjustthewayitgoes- Nowhere in the article does it say she has PPD. How did you come by your diagosis? She might very well have PPD, but she might very well have "Casey Anthony disease". Only someone with a "holier than thou' attitude can leap to such conclusions.

Hitler was sick, suffered from some mental disorder, therefore, all his actions are excused.

I don't claim to be any type of an expert about PPD, but the child was 8 months old when abandoned. I assume the symptoms of PPD would manifest themselves before that point in the child's development. I agree with USMC Vet that if PPD were possibly the case; this article definitely would have mentioned it. While it is wrong to judge her at all, especially based on the limited information provided, I wonder if it is more likely the cuteness of having a baby wore off for this 24 year old mommy [potentially after daddy made tracks] and she was inconvenienced by having a small life dependent upon her and wanted rid of the responsibility.

Wow, you're the sexist here. A mother goes into the woods and dumps a child off and you want to put any blame, at all, on the father? He could have been gone at the time, maybe at a thing called a job. To blame him for HER actions is idiotic beyond belief.

TJ __— Reread my post. Or, rather, READ IT. While I criticized him severely, I had already brought up the things you brought up as possible ameliorating factors. The difference is that you gave him a complete pass. also, I said nothing he did or didn't do excuses her. Yet you said I blamed him entirely and her not at all. No questions asked.

Matilda- How do we know she even knew who that baby's dad was? Or maybe he didn't even know he WAS a father? I see where you're coming from, but there's so many what if scenarios it boggles the mind.

If women are supposed to keep track of the men they have sex with and know who their child's father is, men SHOULD be expected to keep track of the women they have sex with and KNOW who they may have impregnated. I once asked my guy friend if he may have any kids out there, he said no. I said how do you know, he said, because I ALWAYS call the girl the day after, and a few months after i last saw her, even if it's a one night stand. There's also something called punitive father registry. Men's movement, father's rights, get in on it, NO excuses for men either!!

"But, you sexist hypocrites are letting him off the hook utterly without even an attempt to hold him responsible in the slightest."

How? You appear to be a bit biased there.

you first troll set your nutsack up on the table you weirdo

per a poster above, the safe haven law there only applies to babies 28 days old and younger.

NOT in anyway trying to excuse what she did!

There were many other options I would hope, and what she did is unforgivable, but none of us our mind readers.

I agree, but thank goodness the neighbor was paying attention or this could've been even sadder.

Bambi,Your statements are true but women suffering from post-partum depression or post-partum-psychosis are not thinking normally.I am glad that the neighbor was observant and rescued the 8 month old baby.

Then why are we lining up for Russia's unwanted babies??

cleaning lady--people using manufactured maladies as a "reason" for something like this happening are part of the problem. and frankly, who cares "why" she did it? all we really need to know is that she did it, and that she should be charged with attempted murder, convicted, sent to prison and hopefully never heard from or seen again in society. she is clearly terrible at decision making as she decided to have unprotected sex, not have an abortion and then attempt to murder her own kid. the rest of us don't need people like this wandering free amongst us...

per another poster the safe haven law only applies to babies 28 days and younger.

Mike because the U.S. needs to change their adoption laws, from what I hear it's a horrid process to try and adopt a baby here (I'm adopted, and my parents had to go to hell and back to get me, and I was an "older" child when they got me)

Unfortunately sebrad, as much as I agree with you they'll probably do an Andrea Yates on her and stick her in a mental institution that she'll possibly get to leave.

people need to start to being reminded of concepts called "personal responsibility" and "consequences", and public examples need to be made of people that clearly don't understand these concepts, particularly when the attempted murder of an 8 month old is involved.

I think this "mother" should be thrown feet first into the wood chipper, but people say i'm a little harsh with stuff like this.

sebrad, I thought I was tough, but you got one on me!

For I FIRMLY believe, women whom need State Aid, should volunteer to have their tubes tied until they can AFFORD to have them UNTIED, at their EXPENSE! Nothing ANGERS me more than to see children and the elderly abused!

But our States need to get SMART regarding women getting State Aid! If they don't want to take birth control, well I would give them a choice, you volunteer to have your tubes tied, or you're DENIED aid!

Doesn't make sense for these women to bring children into the world and abuse them like this!

What would be another great idea, is for our MEDIA to start running AD'S, whereby young mother's can go, should they want to give up their children, instead of doing something as horrible as this! They have shelter's for Violence Against Women, they need to have one for Babies too!

All those States whose trying to do away with Abortions, & Birth Control, they need to put up an Ad giving out numbers, whereby young girls and women can call for assistance!

I can't IMAGINE, taking my baby and dumping them in the woods, and the Lord KNOWS I wasn't ready to have any children at such a young age, but I did what I HAD TO DO, for these babies did not ask to come into this world!

Praise God, that woman was WATCHING!!!!!

Some of us prefer to learn what happened in this case before we

1. Beat Jennifer Cutruzzula within an inch of her life.
2. Abandon her in the wood with only a bottle of milk for sustenance.
3. Force her to be sterilised against her will.
4. Drop her in the wood from 30K feet. (This punishment makes no sense other than some people are hateful brutes.)
5. Rip out her uterus...through her nose. (This is disturbing on many levels, so much worse than what happened to the child. This shows a deep hatred for women which is often seen on these boards.)
6. Torture, abuse and otherwise harm her without bothering to find out the circumstances which led to her leaving the child in the wood. In other words, never mind due process.

What a fine demonstration of intolerance, hatred, arrogance and Christian values. [/sarcasm]

There are few people who wonder where the father of the child was at the time the mother abandoned her in the wood. What happened to him? Is he in the picture at all? Is he helping to look after the child? Does the mother have any support at all? Has she any family?

Is she ill? Does she have Post Partum Depression? Does she have Post Partum Psychosis? Either of these can lead to serious problems after childbirth.

These are reasonable points to wonder. Let's find out what happened.