Sometimes you read stories that make you sad, angry and little thankful all at the same time. The latest story to catch my attention involved a family, consisting of a single dad with nine kids, who finally had to give them up.

His story is sad in itself. He is single dad due to the death of his wife of 17 years. She died shortly after the birth of their youngest.

It seems that Nebraska is one of those forward thinking states that has made their hospital an official place for parents to surrender their children without fear of prosecution for abandonment. I really don't like the word abandon in this case, surely they are voluntarily surrendering their children?

Why does it make me angry? In a society like our surely we have reached a level of maturity (society that is) where we can put our hand up and say help? Rather than looking down on anyone in this situation - and let's face it, raising nine kids aged 1 to 17 is not going to be easy, we should doing everything possible to maintain that family unit.

I can only imagine what he must be going through. I am sure there is a mixture of relief, grief and guilt constantly running through his mind. Hopefully, friends and relatives can help maintain some type of family unit for those children, particularly the younger ones who will struggle to even understand the situation.

One other aspect of this case concerns me. Apparently the legislation behind this 'safe haven for abandoned children' was only meant to cover babies and toddlers. What rot. It should cover all children from birth to 18.

View the story: Overwhelmed US dad abandons nine kids here.