A heartwarming story: In Lviv, a woman who had left her child in a "Window of Life" returned to reclaim her baby.

In Lviv, a displaced woman from Kharkiv left her 2-month-old baby in the "Window of Life," but later decided to get him back. However, she was only able to do so after 7 months. This story was reported by the Lviv Regional Clinical Perinatal Center.

It was noted that on May 1 of this year, an unknown woman brought the infant to the medical facility and left him in the "Window of Life." An alarm was triggered there, and staff members took the child. The baby's mother had already left by that time.

The doctors examined the child and determined that the abandoned boy was approximately two months old and healthy.

However, a few days later, something unexpected happened.

A woman came to the facility claiming to be the child's mother and requested the return of her baby. However, the medical staff could not comply because all legal processes regarding the abandonment of the child had already been initiated. It was only after 7 months of numerous court hearings and the establishment of paternity that the woman was able to reclaim her son.

"The story of the boy who stayed in our center for seven months is unique. The child was in the perinatal center while legal issues regarding his return to the family were being resolved. This is an exceptional case that reminds us of the most important thing: every child deserves life and a chance to live in a family," said Maria Malachinska, director of the Lviv Perinatal Center.

The medical institution noted that this was the first time a mother returned for her abandoned child in all the years of the "Window of Life" operation.

She experienced postpartum depression and felt guilty

In the court ruling on this case, it states that the woman filed a lawsuit against the Sykhiv District Administration of the Lviv City Council as the guardianship authority, asking to be recognized as the mother of the boy she left on May 1, 2024, at the municipal non-profit enterprise "Lviv Regional Clinical Perinatal Center" — "Window of Life."

She explained that on April 2, she gave birth to her son in Kharkiv, and after the birth and her relocation to Lviv, her psychological state drastically changed, particularly with feelings of intense anxiety about the child's future, sadness related to the military aggression of the Russian Federation, and uncertainty about her ability to financially provide for the child. These fears and concerns affected her emotional, physical, psychological, and hormonal well-being.

The doctor diagnosed her with "postpartum depression."

"In this state, she made an impulsive and emotional decision, which led her to leave the child without documents at the municipal non-profit enterprise of the Lviv Regional Council, 'Lviv Regional Clinical Perinatal Center' — 'Window of Life.' She also informed the child's father of her decision. Within a week of leaving the child, she began to experience strong worry and fear for her child's health and well-being, as well as guilt for abandoning her child, and decided to rectify the consequences of her impulsive and emotional decision," the court ruling states.

On May 9, 2024, the woman visited the perinatal center to retrieve her child, but was advised to contact the guardianship authority of the Sykhiv District Administration. There, she was informed that there were no legal grounds for returning the child, as they lacked any documents confirming both paternity and maternity, and the documents provided could not substantiate the stated circumstances.

The court initially ruled to prohibit the district administration from registering children, and then appointed a DNA test for the mother and child, which showed a paternity probability of 99.9999%.

Based on this, the court decided to grant the woman's claim and recognize her as the mother of the boy she left in the "Window of Life."

As a reminder, in Britain, a woman shocked her family and friends by naming her son Lucifer. Some family members refused to use this name, and online, she faced backlash and demand for the revocation of parental rights for child endangerment.