LIVING
The Power of One:
WHAT WAS YOUR
DEFINING MOMENT?
By Suzanne Hobbs
W
hen this investigative crime reporter
was given an anonymous tip about a
newborn’s body found among the trash
in an alley dumpster, her life changed
in that moment. Suzanne Hobbs stood there, her mind
not believing what she was seeing. Her cameraman was
capturing video of police pulling the yellow tape to protect the crime scene. Minutes later, the lifeless body of a
hours old baby, wrapped in a bath towel, was gently lifted
out. She’d covered horrific crimes over her many years on
television, but this one hit her hard.
“That is an image I will never forget;” Suzanne says. “It
was a defining moment for me, I then had a mission, and
it was personal. At the time, I had been struggling for
seven years to get pregnant. I never wanted to report on
a news story like this again in Idaho.”
She learned over the following days about the young
girl who hid her pregnancy and delivered the baby alone
in her bathroom, then made a heartless choice out of
fear. She also learned about a law that was in other states,
but not hers. Mothers can leave their newborn at specified locations like medical offices and fire stations and
simply walk away, no questions asked.
In 2001 the Governor of Idaho signed the Safe Haven Law. He handed Suzanne one of the pens he used,
thanking her for initiating the push for this law. Since
then, more than 25 babies have been safely surrendered
in Idaho. Suzanne has also helped advocate for legislation and education about the law in other states. Over
the years, similar laws were passed, and now all 50 states,
and other countries around the world, have similar laws.
But the story doesn’t end there. Suzanne still ached
to be a mother and immediately started the process to
adopt a child. Two years after the Idaho law was put in
place, Suzanne adopted a baby who was abandoned under the protection of that law she began. Her little girl,
named Lilly Love, is the fifth Safe Haven baby in Idaho.
For more than a decade now, Suzanne has shared her
powerful story with both large and small audiences. Her
message: when you have a set-back, you’re being prepared for a set-up. “I am sure that had I not struggled to
have a child of my own,
I would have covered
that dumpster baby
story differently, and
not made it as personal. But because I was
struggling to have a
child, I felt driven and
made something good
come from that tragedy.” Yet she had no idea
that when she began
efforts to get the law
in Idaho, that it would
lead to her becoming
Photo: Sohail Khwaja
a mother one day. She
simply acted on her strengths and abilities to turn tragedy into triumph.
Since then, Suzanne and Lilly have been featured in
magazines and a handful of newspapers. She’s been interviewed on television and radio shows, while others
tell her inspirational story on stage to large audiences.
She was also a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006.
“Sharing my story in so many avenues, including 20
million viewers on Oprah helps keep this law on people’s
minds,” Suzanne says. “That’s key to saving more unwanted lives.”
Suzanne Hobbs is an actress and model at BMG Models and Talent. She is also an
author and speaker and the co-founder of Fast Fit Body Sculpting LLC.
62
INSPIRING LIVES
SUMMER 2016