Babies surrendered for adoption in 2025 under SC law reach annual record. Here’s what to know

A newborn was surrendered for adoption at Prisma Health Greer Memorial Hospital recently, the eighth this year and tying the record for most in a year.

Eight babies were surrendered in 2023.

Danielle Jones, spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, said DSS can’t speculate on why eight infants have been surrendered so far this year.

“Anecdotally, the agency tends to see subsequent surrenders once a surrender is shared with the public and the required disclosures to the media as outlined in state law as part of the Daniel’s Law section,” she said. “The agency has embarked on continued training and partnerships with the medical community, the faith community and through assisting with training videos produced by the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy as well as our recent Public Service Announcement discussing Daniel’s Law”

All infants surrendered are in the process, through the state’s Family Court, of becoming available for adoption.

The most recent surrender was a white boy born on Nov. 30, weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 20 inches long. The child was given up at the hospital under Daniel’s Law, the state’s Safe Haven for Abandoned Babies Act.

Spartanburg County DSS took custody of the child, who was placed in a foster home after a medical evaluation was completed.

A Permanency Planning Hearing and Termination of Parental Rights Hearing will be held at 10 a.m. Dec. 18 at the Spartanburg County Family Court, 180 Magnolia Street, Spartanburg.

Since Daniel’s Law was adopted in 2001, 77 babies have been placed for adoption.

The law is named for a baby who was named Daniel by a nurse after Biblical Daniel rescued from the lion’s den. The baby was rescued from an old city dump in Allendale in 2000.

The State reported in 2002 that the baby’s mother kept her pregnancy a secret and gave birth in the bathroom of her home. She took the baby to the dump, dug a 20.5-inch deep hole and placed him inside.

She went to the hospital thinking she was having another baby — it was afterbirth — and told hospital workers she had buried the child on a road beside her house.

After a fruitless 2-hour search, the mother told emergency workers the truth — the baby was in the landfill and showed them a mound covered in lime.

They found him within 2 minutes, crying. He had fire ant bites on his chest, face and the web between his fingers, but the lime protected the rest of his body, especially his eyes.

The ant bites kept him conscious and crying, workers said.

“That baby was just not meant to die. It’s an unbelievable story that this child lived through all that. God has a plan for his life,” a rescue worker said.

The child’s mother pleaded guilty in 2002 to unlawful conduct toward a child and was sentenced to four years in prison. She originally was charged with assault and battery with intent to kill.

She served two years.

The child was raised by a relative.

The law applies to unharmed infants up to 60 days old. If someone, who can remain anonymous, takes the child to a medical facility, law enforcement, fire station, emergency medical service or a house of worship they will not be prosecuted.