Since July, when Nebraska lawmakers passed a unique “safe-haven” law allowing parents to abandon children as old as 18, at least 16 children, some of them teenagers have been abandoned, making officials to consider revising the law.

“If we see another family being left off, then we’re going to have to do something immediately,” state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced legislation that was the basis for the law, said.

For now the “safe-haven” law permits parents to hand over their children to state-certified medical centers. Even though it aimed at protecting infants, the legal measure’s language was amended to contain the word “child,” which was left undefined. Therefore, many interpreted the law as referring to all minors, thus including all children under the age of 19.

The most troubling case of parental abandonment so far occurred Wednesday when Gary Staton left five boys and four girls aged 1 to 17 at Creighton University Medical Center’s emergency room. He has a 10th child as well, a daughter who is 18. According to his sayings, his wife died early last year after delivering their youngest child and he could not handle bringing his children up by himself.

Before Wednesday's drop-off, at least four children between the ages of 11 and 15 had been abandoned by parents since the law took effect.

In these conditions, Sen. Stuthman said lawmakers need to make clear the maximum age for children who can be handled over the state before January. However, it’s not clear whether Gov. Dave Heineman will call a special session to modify the law although he has said it should be changed.