DIANA | FLORIDA / GEORGIA

“After 14 years of waiting and IVF treatments, my husband Corey and I had our beautiful daughter, Arabella. We loved being parents and always knew we wanted three children so we went through IVF again. In the heartbreak of failed transfers and miscarriages we almost gave up, but after all the ups and downs we were elated to find out we were pregnant with twins!! We asked Arabella if she wanted a brother or a sister and she replied, ‘both!’ We knew it was meant to be!

There were several complications during my high-risk pregnancy, but most concerning was our baby girl’s diagnosis of IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction). Her placenta was not getting enough nutrients or blood flow and she was measuring under 1%. Although we live in Georgia, I was put on bedrest at a hospital in Florida because it was adjoining to the closest children’s hospital with a NICU for when the twins were born. After a month in the hospital, labor started progressing and at 34 weeks I had an emergency C-section due to Amelia’s IUGR and Christian’s breech position.

Our bouncing baby boy, Christian, was almost 5lbs and our sweet little angel girl, Amelia, weighed 3lbs 4oz. After a 42 day stay in the NICU and living at the Ronald McDonald House in order to be close to our babies, we were all finally back home in Georgia and so very happy.

Our long-awaited, completed, happy family would unfortunately only stay complete for 7 weeks.

Amelia was still tiny, but she was seen at all wellness checks with no cause for concern. We thought everything was okay. But on October 1st, 2023 we noticed Amelia had a swollen thigh. We rushed her to the ER and that’s when our nightmare began.

We were told our baby had a broken femur, and that we needed to bring her to the children’s hospital, the same Florida hospital she had been discharged from 7 weeks prior. There, we let the doctors know she was a twin who suffered from IUGR. We told them about her NICU stay, medical history, and my pregnancy complications. They didn’t want to hear any of it.

After being up for 24 hours straight, we were questioned by the children’s hospital’s child abuse team, headed by a child abuse pediatrician (CAP). Apparently, Amelia also had healing rib fractures. I repeatedly asked the CAP to see the X-rays and CAT scan, but was never shown them. I asked her to tell me the age of the fractures, so I could see if they took place in the NICU, but she said there was no way of knowing, just that Amelia had several rib fractures in various stages of healing.

I was hysterical. It seemed like every time the doctors came in they were telling us something new was wrong with our baby. The CAP now said Amelia also had a stage 3 liver laceration and was bleeding internally. She said the ONLY way this injury could occur was if Amelia was punched repeatedly or ‘drop kicked across the room’. I was in a state of shock at that point. I asked why Amelia had no bruising or any other signs of pain or discomfort, but the CAP said there is not always bruising. I asked if my baby was going to have surgery, and the CAP said she didn’t know. I asked again how old this injury was, could this have happened in the NICU or at birth? Again, she said there was no way of telling, but she’d go ask the radiologist immediately and get back to me on the timeline of the injury and if surgery was needed. We never saw her again.

We didn’t know it at the time, but this CAP had made headlines in two prior states: ‘Mass exodus at Alaska child abuse clinic as former Wisconsin doctor accused of bullying, misdiagnoses.’ And now this CAP was in Florida making headlines again: ‘Another questionable hire- UF Med school hires child abuse expert with controversial record.’

My husband stepped out to get us dinner and I was breastfeeding Amelia when a Georgia DFCS worker and a security guard came into the hospital room and told me we were being removed from the hospital. They said all of our children had been taken into state custody. My baby was literally ripped from my arms while I was feeding her. I was told to gather my belongings and was escorted out by security. I cried so loudly through the hallways that everyone started coming out of their rooms to see what was going on.

There were no injuries or signs of abuse at all for Arabella or Christian. Georgia DFCS claimed our twins couldn’t be released to family because Amelia needed specialized medical care, yet there were no specialized medical care instructions with her discharge paperwork except to specify a certain way she should be picked up. There were NO discharge instructions or follow up on the ‘possible liver laceration’ and Amelia was never seen by a hematologist or surgeon at the children’s hospital. The twins were placed in foster care, but the foster parents had no specialized medical training.

At only 3 years old, Arabella was questioned alone during an almost two hour forensic interview. She came out a different little girl, having panic attacks saying she's ‘never going to see mommy and daddy again.’ Arabella was placed with my mother and is suffering dearly, experiencing extreme separation anxiety.

A geneticist specializing in metabolism detailed in his report that Amelia didn’t receive the nutrients needed while in the womb and her bone development was markedly delayed. He noted that some of her ribs fractures dated back to her first 6 weeks of life when she was still in the NICU. His report also noted her fractured ribs showed cupping, a loss of calcium from the ends of growing ribs, and her spine showed generalized demineralization. This expert provided a long list of factors that contributed to Amelia’s osteopenia.

But the state’s experts only consulted with the CAP and relied on her reports rather than examining my children themselves. They failed to run thorough testing, only doing genetic testing for two of the most common forms of OI (brittle bone disease) which were negative. Amelia is still having abnormal CBC labs and has been anemic since birth even with supplements, but we are not allowed to see a specialist to have it looked into. The judge ordered a social study to be done before deciding on reunification. The final deciding factor in the study ended up being a conversation had with the accusing CAP… non-reunification was recommended.

The state has all of our children and they are suffering from it. I did not realize medical kidnapping was a real thing, now we are living it. Pray for our children, pray for our family. Our children need to be reunited with their parents.”