Hundreds 'waiting in line' to adopt baby found alive in plastic bag, child services says
The baby who was abandoned in a plastic bag in the woods and rescued by Georgia sheriff's deputies earlier this month is healthy and has hundreds of people "waiting in line" to adopt her, the state's director of child services said.
"She's doing really well," Tom Rawlings, director of Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services, told Paste BN on Friday.
"She's gaining weight, she's very happy ... and she loves to be sung to," he added.
Deputies with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office found the newborn, who has since been named baby India, in a plastic bag in a wooded area of Cumming, Georgia, after a nearby family heard crying.
"The miracle here is that this child persevered," Rawlings said. "Thank god somebody heard her cry. She did the only thing she could do, which is cry."
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The sheriff's office released body camera video from the girl's rescue, which shows deputies tearing open the bag and wrapping crying India in a blanket. Authorities hope releasing the footage will lead to information that can help them find her parents.
Rawlings said there are about 200 families on a waiting list in Georgia to adopt young children like baby India, but that child services has gotten "hundreds of calls, social media posts" about her.
"We have people waiting in line to provide that child with a forever home," Rawlings told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday.
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Officials will try to be as objective as possible when selecting a family to place India with, and Rawlings said he doesn't have added concern given the circumstances of her rescue because of how young she is.
"I don't anticipate any long-term effects of the trauma," he told Paste BN.
Rawlings said he was thankful that law enforcement circulated video of the rescue because it allowed for increased awareness around the needs of children in the foster care system. While hundreds of families are waiting to adopt young infants and toddlers, older children need to be placed in good homes too, Rawlings said.
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As for India's future, Rawlings is hopeful for what's to come.
"She has a long life ahead of her," he said. "The circumstances of her abandonment are tragic, but I think her life is going to be wonderful."
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