Authorities in the United States are reeling from a sudden spate of children being abandoned by their parents and guardians under a new law that allows caregivers to leave any child up to the age of 19 at hospitals without fear of prosecution.

Press conference following eleven children having been left at hospitals in Nebraska, Sept 24 2008. Photograph: Nati Harnik

In Nebraska in September alone, 14 children were abandoned in hospitals and another was mistakenly taken to a police station, which is not covered under the law. In a further case, an 18-year-old presented himself for safe keeping, but was not placed in foster care because he was too old.

The case that has caused most attention has been that of a father who handed over nine of his 10 children aged 20 months to 17 years to hospital carers. They have been placed with two sets of relatives before their fate is decided.

In July Nebraska became the last of the 50 states to pass legislation designed to take criminality out of the abandonment of babies and infants, following a reported rise in such incidents. The process began with Texas, which enacted the law in 1999, and since then about 2,000 babies are thought to have been handed over nationwide.

The Nebraska law, however, went further than that of any other state in keeping loose the definition of those who could be relinquished by their carers. In most states, it was restricted to the early months of life, but in Nebraska it has been left open as any age up to 19.

The first to make use of the law was a woman in Omaha who tried on September 1 to part company with her 14-year-old son, saying she did not want to care for him any more. She made the mistake, under the terms of the legislation, of presenting him at Omaha police department.

On September 13 a woman took her 11-year-old grandson to a hospital in Omaha complaining he was violent and destructive and saying he would be better off in a group home. The boy is now in foster care. The same day a boy aged 15 was abandoned in Lincoln by his aunt, who said he was disobedient and a possible gang member. "I didn't abandon him," she told the Omaha World Herald. "I wanted help for him so when he hits 18 he's not a menace to society."

Two further cases occurred on September 20 and 23 involving a girl aged 13 and the 18-year-old who presented himself. The next day, in two incidents, relatives walked away from a boy aged 11 and another of 15.

The same day Gary Staton turned up at Creighton University medical centre with all but the eldest of his 10 children. The children's mother, his wife, had died after childbirth in February 2007. Staton said he had felt overwhelmed and unable to cope since his wife's death.

Nebraska residents have been shocked by the surge of abandonments. Corie Russell, a columnist with the Papillion Times, wrote: "Birth certificates aren't receipts. This isn't a store refund. And I'm definitely not giving these parents any credit for their irrational and cruel decisions."

The safe haven law has also been criticised by the courts. One judge presiding over some of the cases lambasted it as "state-sanctioned abandonment".

The state's assembly members are now considering revising the legislation to narrow the definition of children that can be given away.

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/04/usa