Heartwrenching letters here, from mothers and in one case, a father, who are giving up their children to be cared for by nuns at the Foundling Asylum in New York City in the late 1800s. They can’t care for them, so they give them up. We don’t have asylums or orphanages today because we kill kids in utero instead. And indeed, some today claim these children would be better off dead. I’m not sure why they feel so confident about that. Who is to say?
As a side note, it appears consistently in the letters that the children are referred to as “it.”
by 
My God those letters are sad. But look at the handwriting and the writing itself. Not perfect by any means but most could express themselves very well. Not “educated” people but puts to shame what is produced by people who pride themselves on their “education.”
Maybe an order of nuns, today, should start open foundling asylums right next to every abortion clinic.
I meant to say “…puts to shame what is produced by many people today who pride themselves on their education.”