LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After 20 months of fostering little Samuel, his adoption is official.
Brittany and Chris Tyler finalized their adoption of Samuel, who was surrendered to a safe haven baby box at a Louisville fire station in 2022. The adoption is making international headlines.
Samuel Tyler brings a lot of energy to the Tyler household. He’s not one to slow down and is inspiringly curious.
“Oh, yeah. We were left at the fire station. We got to meet all the firefighters,” dad Chris Tyler explained. Samuel is 20 months old and doctors estimate he was only two days old in May 2022 when he was surrendered to a Louisville fire department Safe Haven baby box.
The boxes are climate-controlled, and lock after a baby is placed inside and alarms immediately notify Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff. They are a legal way to surrender a newborn child.
“This is the first picture that I took of Sam when I got to the NICU to see him,” mother Brittany Tyler explained as she showed Spectrum News 1 pictures on her phone.
The Tylers were called the day Samuel was surrendered. They are a foster family but also since Samuel was a safe haven child, by taking him in, the Tyler’s were committing to adopt.
“We’re what you call a concurrent foster home... that means we’re open to adopt children that come to us and so we ended up obviously saying yes to adopting Samuel,” Chris Tyler said.
On Dec. 18, 2023, the adoption was completed. And during this time, the growing family has been getting a lot of press. Local, network and international publications are eager to know more about safe haven baby boxes, fostering and adoption.
Samuel is the Tyler’s third adopted child, the first surrendered at a fire station and the husband and wife have been fostering children for many years.
“We’ve had numerous amount of children who’ve come through the home… and Sam was our 16th foster placement,” Chris Tyler said.
Brittany Tyler is admittedly shy, but she wants as many people to know, Safe Haven boxes are life saving. They are a choice for new mothers, who may feel like they have nowhere to turn during a crisis.
“Every state has a safe haven law and they are working toward getting safe haven baby boxes put in nationwide, but other countries don’t have that as an option right now,” Brittany Tyler told Spectrum News 1.
There are approximately 20 safe haven baby boxes throughout Kentucky and there is a National Safe Haven Baby Box Hotline with more information 1-866-99BABY1.