If I find a baby on my doorstep, can I keep it? Will I end up in jail if caught?

No you can't keep it.

The best thing to do would be to call the police and report an abandoned child.

It may be that the child was kidnapped, and the kidnapper changed their mind, or it was in a vehicle that got stolen and the car thief is trying to make sure that the baby isn't harmed. There could be some desperate parent out there waiting to hear that their baby is OK.

If the child was actually abandoned, you can petition the court to adopt it, but you need to go through all of the correct legal channels first.

If someone puts a bike or stereo or something else on your doorstep, is it yours to keep? No. They are probably stolen from someone so if you keep it, you could be charged with receiving stolen property. If you can't keep material items why would you be allowed to keep a human being?

Plus, you don't know if the child has been kidnapped and the kidnapper had second thoughts and dropped the child off. The parents could be frantically searching for their child so if you keep the child, you could be charged with kidnapping, too, even if you weren't involved with the initial kidnapping.

"Finders Keepers" does not apply to children.

What if the child was kidnapped to begin with and the bad guy dumped the child on your doorstep?

Wouldn't you want to make sure there wasn't a couple of anguished parents out there looking for their baby?

Imagine if you are found with the baby and didn't call the authorities? "Sure you found the baby on your doorstep...but your hands behind your back".

In the unlikely event that this would happen call 911.

No. It's pretty much no ones baby. So, I would go to a police station/fire station, report the incident, and see how to get a hold of legal papers of, I dunno the legal term... ownership? Gaurdianship? Anyway, you won't end up in jail if someone finds out, but if you don't the kid won't be documented, and won't have anything like Social Security, a Birth Certificate, or anything like that.

Once I found a living infant in a garbage can in a park and when I reported it the police held me nearly all day asking questions I couldn't answer and then told me that I had some priority about adopting it if I wanted to do so.

Of course ,you CANNOT keep the baby, you have to call the police and report the incident.

NO, you can not legally keep it.

It would be considered interference with child custody and you could be charged with a Felony.

It must be turned over to the authorities.

I wouldnt save the child. I surely have lots of them on my own. i might deliver the child in and attempt to guard it and in all likelihood call a kinfolk member over to help and the police.

You have to report it. If you don't report a missing baby that is essentially an equivalent to kidnapping.

Why not do just the opposite and have a baby the "old fashioned way!"

Best wishes.