ARIANNA | OHIO

“I had been told I could not have children due to medical reasons so on September 9, 2020 when I found out I was going to have twins, it was so special and I was a bundle of emotions. My babies were always wanted and cherished, even in the womb.

On March 15, 2021, at 33 weeks gestation, I delivered the twins via emergency c-section. A'mir was born weighing 4lbs 4oz and Aniyah weighed 3lbs 14oz. They spent the first couple weeks of their life in the NICU. We took our twins to all scheduled well baby check ups. No health concerns were ever raised. Our babies were noted to be thriving and reaching all major milestones right on time.

On May 31st, I noticed a lump on our daughter’s arm and when I touched it, she screamed. We IMMEDIATELY packed everything up and rushed to the emergency room and that's when the nightmare began.

Our daughter had a full body scan and it was found that she had multiple fractures. In shock and disbelief, questioning how is this even possible, we were told that we would be transferred to the children’s hospital because it could be a genetic condition and that they would also be doing a body scan on my son.

As soon as we walked through the doors at the children’s hospital we were met with INSTANT interrogation and allegations. Everything started to blur as I was exhausted, already running on adrenaline at this point. I went with my daughter to get another X-ray. My fiancé was answering questions.

We were questioned by the chief of child abuse pediatrics (although at the time, we didn’t know that she was a child abuse pediatrician/CAP). It was then that I found out our son had identical fractures to his sister. Both my twins had over 30 fractures in almost all identical places and no other signs of abuse. There were no bruises. No broken blood vessels in the eyes, no swelling; CT scans were clean.

We were told that our babies would not be going home with us. We were told to give three references of family they could stay with until further notice. I instantly called the closest person to me and she came right to the hospital. She was more than willing to take the twins in that moment, but the CPS investigator told us never mind, the babies could not go with family after all, they would be placed in foster care.

We complied with EVERYTHING. We did the RIGHT thing seeking help for our daughter. Instead of being met with the same level of concern, we had now been labeled as abusers. My heart felt as if it had been RIPPED out of my chest as we went in with two children and left without either child.

The police showed up at my front door as I rushed home to get breastmilk for my babies who could no longer nurse. Police escorted us back to drop off over 300oz of breastmilk to the hospital so at least I would have that connection to my babies. I later found out that the hospital lost all of my breastmilk and placed my twins on formula which they did not do well on at all!

I sat in a cold, locked room at the police station being questioned for six hours on and off— still running on no sleep. I gave them access to my phone. I was yelled at and belittled. While they tried every tactic to get my fiancé and I to turn on each other, we always maintained that something medically had to be going on with our kids.

The hospital put a cast on each of the twins’ arms (which were removed less than 72hrs later) and that was the extent of the care given. When I asked how the genetic testing came back, the child abuse pediatrician said they had not done genetic testing because this was a clear case of abuse, not a medical condition.

We were assigned attorneys and my fiancé never heard from his attorney. We had no one to advocate for us. I knew that this would have to be a battle that we fought ourselves. I was determined. I did my research and got my attorney on board. I got connected to Fractured Families where I found so many resources and discovered how many families have actually been falsely accused. I then requested all of my kids’ medical records. Unfortunately, at this point the hospital had locked me out of the system so I couldn’t get any of their records. My attorney requested them, but the state did not release the records until the day before our scheduled adjudication hearing which led to our hearing being postponed.

Once I finally had the medical records, I reached out to every doctor I could find to review them. The first doctor to respond was from an article I had read. He was from the SAME hospital as my accusing CAP and he was my first sign of hope—Dr. Miller. He reached out to my attorney and said after reviewing our kids’ records he believed they had osteopenia in prematurity, infantile rickets, and EDS hyper mobility. I requested that he perform the genetic testing since he was so knowledgeable on metabolic bone disease and OI. CPS refused.

We kept searching. In October, both myself and my husband were diagnosed with hEDS. My attorney found several experts who were willing to testify, but it would cost us thousands of dollars we didn’t have, especially after having both lost our jobs due to the accusations. We were thankfully able to fundraise the money. We had three experts, plus the ER doctor from the first hospital, and the twins’ pediatrician all in agreement that my kids had suffered no abuse, but rather had underlying medical conditions.

Finally, our day in court November 18th. We were ready. The child abuse pediatrician teams’ geneticist admitted in court that he wanted to do more testing because of the history of fractures in our families, but was told no by his team. After our first expert was done testifying, the judge had already heard enough and wanted to finish the hearing right there.

CPS declined, still maintaining that we abused our kids and that the CAP was right.

So we went back to court November 23rd where the rest of our experts testified and our caseworker even testified that they had NO safety concerns for our kids coming home. The judge then made his decision, finding that no abuse ever occurred and our kids should be reunited with us that day.

It was the happiest 30 seconds of my life. I say 30 seconds because it was short lived. CPS objected to his ruling. Our kids did not come home.

When CPS objected, that meant our case would go before a new judge to make a final decision and we were told that the process could take a year. Now, we were told that there was nothing to be done besides wait. Of course, what parent can accept to just…wait? So we reached out to any and everyone we could think of to help us. We met/spoke with commissioners, house representatives, senate members, attorney general, the omsbudsman, and the NAACP. Nobody would help us.

After 341 days of separation, on May 6, 2022 the judge made his ruling for reunification and finally we had our babies back. Such a long awaited blessing, but we could not look past the bittersweetness of the moment. Yes, we were overjoyed to have our babies home, but at the same time so confused as to why they were kept from us for so long.

My family has been reunited, but the fear and trauma that lingers in my heart is more than I can even express. Even so, I refuse to let the fear win. We will make new memories and continue to heal and grow together as a family.”