What makes Mothers kill their infants?

The thing that pisses me off most about the case of the twin girls was that a 2 year old child had ALREADY been removed from those asshole's custody 5 months before the twin's birth.  Why the hell they were allowed to go home with those babies is beyond me.

I don't know, Janders.  I don't know how someone could murder their infant.  I don't know how people can hurt their kids, I even don't know how people can harm animals.  I know I've got mad at my kids before, and I know I've visualized myself slapping my daughter's face for cussing at me - but I've never acted upon my anger or impulses.  It hurts me to see my children in pain - when Jake (my littlest guy) fell off his bike and broke his arm I think I was more hurt than he was!  So, I can't understand how some people can deliberately hurt or kill their own children, especially infants. 

It sickens me, it really does.

I have always wondered why monsters like that could have children and the most wonderful people you could ever meet go childless.  It is a screwed up world that I rarely feel I have any understanding of.

Dharma~ At the point the took the 2 year old away, why wasn't the family monitered throughout the pregnancy, making sure the mom got prenatal care, and the babies had a safe place to go home to. Is there not a system in place to help prevent this?

I think these people have to be seriously mentally ill to hurt their children.

JillUser~

I makes me mad too. My husband and I have struggled through infertility, and I get so angry. How can these assholes be able to have kids they don't even want. WHen my husband and I have planned and prepared for a child and we have not been able to bring a baby home. These people don't deserve to be out in the civilized world, let alone be blessed with beautiful innocents.

I had you in mind when I made that comment because I remember all you have shared with us.  My dad's cousin and his wife are extremely wonderful people who weren't able to have children of their own but gave a great life to two adopted children.  They are happy grandparents now.

I agree that you have to be seriously sick in the head to hurt a child or infant.  They are so little, helpless and innocent.  Child abuse is one thing I have zero tolerance for.

Jill~ Oh, thanks, I appreciate the thought, It is to bad that these people didn;t put their children up for adoption, they could have given the gift of a child to a couple, instead of ending their child's life.

Another thing that makes me mad about the Minnesota cases is that there is a law that you can drop off an infeant under 3 days old at any hospital police or fire station and you will not be charged with abandonment. You can do this without any questions asked. I remeber when I worked at the hospital we were trained that is anyone walked up and handed us a newborn baby, that we where to take the baby, and not press for questions. Why couldnt this 18 year old do that?

Child abuse is probably the saddest thing in the world.

The worst aspect of it ..when it is parents doing it. The people that a child should be able to trust - to love and protect them .

Children that will never know what it is to loved and nutured ...only pain and suffering.

Tiny babies treated like throw away commodities.

Like you, my heart aches and the rage I feel against these animals is indescribable.

Jess

Sorry ..I take the animal part back ..only humans are capable of such disgusting behaviour.

Jess

Sorry ..I take the animal part back ..only humans are capable of such disgusting behaviour.

How true... I feel embarassed to be part of the human race when these type of things happen.

Janders,
Forgive me if this is straying off the topic and into the realms of politics - if you feel it is wrong please feel free to remove my comment - but it is a subject very close to my heart.
Child abuse can take many forms and I feel my own government (the Australian government) is and has blatantly used it for political purpose.) Any refugee who turn up on our shores is placed in a detention centre. These centres are usually in the middle of the desert and currently they have some on exposed Pacific islands. The buildings are rudimentary and the compounds surrounded by razor wire. There are armed guards on duty 24 hours a day. In other words we are talking about prisons. Most of the inmates were fleeing persecution in Iraq or Afghanistan and due to instability in their homeland cannot go back. There are over 100 children in these centres and most have been there for years. They get no education and 'play' equipment is rudimentary if it exists at all. To dehumanise them they are referred to in the camps by number not by name. The government will not allow the media near the camps for fear that the Australian people may be able to put faces to the suffering and therefore humanise them. What is more, statistically 90% of these people are found to be genuine refugees. There have been many reports from the UN and Australias own body the HREOC that prove that we are contravening international law in keeping these children incarcerated. The government has responded to such criticism with changing reasons over the years - in the fear following 9/11 it was that there may be terrorists in these groups, then it was that they were queue jumpers keeping genuine refugees out (bearing in mind that there never was a place to queue for most of them) and the latest one is to deter people smugglers. The government knows that looking strong and keeping the invading hordes at bay plays well to an ignorant electorate, particularly when we are not allowed to see pictures of these people or hear their stories. To my mind the imprisonment without trial of innocent children (all ages from babies up to teenagers) for purely political advantage is to me truly evil. Shame I seem to be in a minority, but I will continue to do what I can.
I appologise once again for hijacking your blog and I will not be offended if you remove this comment as it is a bit removed from you had in mind.
Gerry

Gerry-

I agree that keeping children detained is horrible, yet I do think it is a lot different then murdering a baby. The abusers you speak of seems to be the goverment, where the abusers I speak of are the childrens own parents, people who are supposed to protect their children, love and nurture them, not strangle and murder them. These 3 women all murdered thier children... One through her drug abuse, one through intentional murder and one through a long time of abuse and neglect.

This is not to take away from children or babies that are abused by others. that too is horrible, and the neglect you speak of is pretty sad, especially as they are people that where trying to make a better life for themselves.

Janders,
I should have started out by saying I agree with you 100%, though I do think every case needs to be looked at individually. That said there are a lot of bad parents out there and a lot still abusing their kids that we don't know of.
I know my comment was off the track of the article and normally I wouldnt have posted the comment but it is a subject I feel strongly about. Thanks for your response (and for not deleting it.)
Gerry

people do all sorts of horrible things. some are done intentionally; others negligently or accidentally and some are seemingly inexplicable. some people are born with flawed limbs or internal organs. some are born with flawed brains. illness cripples minds as well as bodies. while we are able to see bodily damage or deformity--usually anyway--thats not always the case with mental illness. perhaps the most difficult things about interacting with someone who has profound mental illness is having to remain constantly aware that things the person says or does arent volitional even though it may often seem that way.

im not trying to excuse away the horror of the things you've described. (im wondering if the crackhead really did give birth tho.)

it is terribly sad--and unfortunately far too common--that people who arent capable of taking care of themselves are able to procreate while others who are potentially excellent parents cant conceive.

The crack head did give birth, a doctor examined her and said she had recently given birth. I think some of this has to be more than mental illness. It is to horrific.

The abuse, torture and murder of the most vulnerable, innocent, helpless ones should be screamed about on the front page of every newspaper. It's beyond horrific what humans are capable of doing to children. To their own children. It's horrific that there are not more ways to protect them.
This is a really good article!

Wise Fawn~ THANK YOU! That is how I feel, I am outraged that we cry foul and are disgusted by the treatment of prisoners, yet we could care less about the abuse of the nations children..

I still recall with outrage that a mother left her 6 month old alone in a Burnsville, MN apartment and went to CA. The child died. This was shortly after my last miscarrige 12 or 13 years ago. I have gotten over the pain of mt loss but I have not quite gotten over the pain of what happened to that baby.This is one of the questions I have when I meet my maker. Why...

We need to make a point of letting our political leaders know that we want things to change no matter what country we live in.

I agree that you have to be seriously sick in the head to hurt a child or infant.

I seriously hope that the people who do these things are suffering from some form of mental illness. To consider a person who has a sense of control be able to do these things is beyond disgusting. I am horrified.

Some people, seriously, are just not all there. I heard from a friend who works in a casino, and that they discovered a car with three small children inside. (5, 4, and an infant). It was a hot day, and the windows were cracked open by an inch or so. That's all. The father said that he had meant to only go in for a few minutes,and they figured the children had been in the car for some time they were so dehydrated... He said he didn't know anything about the greenhouse effect, and figured, since the kids were napping at the time, it would be all right.

Isn't that just insane?

Agh! These people are a disease that we need to take out of our world.... And yet they keep having kids, BASTARDS!

The others who get me are the ones who leave young kids in cars when they go to gamble!