A tragic and unforeseen problem arose a shortly after the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum opened: orphans. There were many births at the asylum, and those babies, along with the ones who were dumped, created a new and unanticipated problem. If a baby was born here the condition of the mother determined whether or not she was allowed to keep her child. If the administration determined that the mother was too unstable the baby was taken away. These babies, and children, were put in a smaller ward and looked after by older “feeble minded” women who were not considered dangerous. .
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There was an orphanage, of sorts, in the basement of the building that was used to segregate the black patients; it was an old laundry room. When these children turned twelve they were placed in the general population, in male or female wards. It wasn’t until 1971 that a separate ward for minors was established in the old TB ward, at that time there were 40 of them. The youngest was 11; the average mental age was 5. How many of them were born in the asylum will never be known.