Child, Youth and Family has seized another newborn baby from an intellectually disabled woman living rough in Auckland, but says it is powerless to prevent her from becoming pregnant again.
She has had three children to three unknown men, and CYF took them all at birth and they
remain in state care.
The woman, whose third child was born in January, has an IQ of 57, equivalent to that of a child of primary school age.
An aunt of the woman believes the woman should be sterilised, but under the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act this can occur only if she consents. Under present legislation, the woman is deemed not to be so intellectually impaired that she cannot make decisions for herself.
The aunt attended a CYF family group conference in October last year to discuss the woman's case after staff at Auckland Hospital told authorities she was pregnant again. At that hearing CYF decided it was in the child's best interests to take it at birth.
The aunt has said previously her niece was incapable of looking after herself, let alone a newborn. She was concerned about her niece's emotional distress from falling pregnant and having her children taken away from her by authorities.
Given her history, the aunt believed there was little option than to sterilise the woman.
Ministry of Health child and youth health chief adviser, Dr Pat Tuohy, told the Herald on Sunday the woman's family could possibly take the matter up with the courts.
However, it would be most unusual to sterilise somebody against their will. Possibly the best option would be for someone to work with her to ensure she had adequate contraception so she did not fall pregnant again, he said. He conceded, under the present legal framework, little could be done to stop the woman having more children.
For privacy reasons, CYF declined to comment about the specifics of the woman's case but said, in general terms, no child was removed from their parents' care unless the concerns were extreme. A spokesperson said taking a baby from its mother at birth was "the last resort". CYF had a focus on keeping families together but the welfare and interests of the child were always the first consideration.
