Stories

Cat (Therapist) & Jack (Fostermom) talk to Ellie (a former foster youth) who has recently reunified with her son who was removed from her care and placed in foster care. Ellie had to overcome so many obstacles, including addiction, domestic violence, raising a son with special needs (autism), and learning how to advocate for herself. Listen along to her journey and how she is determined to end the generational cycle of foster care in her family with her son.

When Hayley and Gary are accused of child abuse - when they bring their 3 month to the hospital for help with an unexplained injury - their life takes a tragic turn. The result is Gary becoming a prisoner and Hayley fighting for her son and her husband and deciding to go to law school and become a criminal appellate attorney. An unbelievable story that should not have had to happen. Their son, Clayton, ended up with diagnoses (infantile Ricketts and hEDS) that explained the cracks in the bones (that were not even fractures) but her husband remains in jail and she continues fighting. Listen and continue to share these stories of doctors getting it wrong, DCF acting shady, and families being ripped apart.

Reach out to the Governor:

Katie Hobbs

When Hayley and Gary are accused of child abuse - when they bring their 3 month to the hospital for help with an unexplained injury - their life takes a tragic turn. The result is Gary becoming a prisoner and Hayley fighting for her son and her husband and deciding to go to law school and become a criminal appellate attorney. An unbelievable story that should not have had to happen. Their son, Clayton, ended up with diagnoses (infantile Ricketts and hEDS) that explained the cracks in the bones (that were not even fractures) but her husband remains in jail and she continues fighting. Listen and continue to share these stories of doctors getting it wrong, DCF acting shady, and families being ripped apart.

Reach out to the Governor:

Katie Hobbs

Megan and her husband, from Washington, experienced medical kidnapping when their son's RSV turned into a nightmare. One trip to the ER when he was struggling with a cold and suddenly he was being intubated, which went awry, and then coded in a helicopter en route to a children's hospital and had to have CPR performed on him. Now at the new hospital an X-ray shows a possible rib fracture and contusion under the throat (where they did CPR and had an improperly placed intubation tube). But instead of taking responsibility, the hospital decides to blame Megan and her husband, which resulted in over 100 days of their son being removed from their care and placed with a relative.

Carrie and Brady Timms are the parents of 2 year old Jameson. He started experiencing some concerning symptoms in his first months of life that had his parents bringing him to the doctor and the hospital trying to figure out. He would have discolorations appear on his body and then disappear. Sometimes within minutes they would just be gone. Photos with timestamps show these red spots all over him one moment and then 6 minutes later they are gone. He also experienced mottling of his skin, as evidenced by photographs.

Trying to solve why their son had these spots on his skin, the Timms took Jameson to their pediatrician who called in a child abuse report on them. Georgia DFCS came out to their house and assured them they had nothing to worry about. However, they then received a phone call from DFCS saying they needed to bring Jameson to CHOA immediately and expect to be treated like criminals, or they would come get him themselves.

They went right to CHOA and before they knew it, the child abuse pediatrician, Dr Verena Brown, was accusing them of hurting their own son and ordered a full workup for non accidental trauma. The X-rays revealed that there were rib fractures present. Suddenly the Timms found themselves separated from their son and being arrested for child abuse.

Knowing that they didn't abuse their child, and that there must be a medical reason for everything that was going on, the Timms continued pushing for answers for what was going on. After much convincing, Georgia DFCS allowed them to take him out of state to a specialist to find out if he had Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS). DFCS workers met them there and the doctor determined with high likelihood that the symptoms that Jameson was experiencing did not seem to be the result of abuse, but of a genetic condition that his mom was also diagnosed with, hEDS. The geneticist was able to see the decalcification of bones in Jameson which can present as fractures to a less knowledgeable doctor.

The Timms excitedly returned to the next court hearing, expecting this to be the day their son would return to them and all of this would go away. But the judge refused to hear testimony or evidence on the diagnosis and simply asked the Timms to pick a family member to sign their son over to so that she could close the case. Fortunately, there was a family member who was able to do this for them.

But now they await their criminal trial, and still suffer the loss of their son, which they can't do anything about until they are able to prove their innocence in their criminal trials. Fortunately they are able to have supervised visits with him, but the pending events are terrifying as both parents prefacing 80 years in prison each.

To help the Timms family and others affected in Georgia here are some things that you can do to make a difference:

Diana and Corey Sullivan met in 6th grade and started dating in 8th grade. Married by 21, they immediately started trying to have children. When it didn't work out they turned to fertility doctors and ended up conceiving their first child the first time they tried IVF. In hopes of providing their daughter with a sibling they tried again and ran into many more challenges. However, they kept trying until they were pregnant with twins and were so excited to bring more children into their family.

After a precarious pregnancy, much of which was spent in the hospital with her and the female twin's medical conditions, the twins were born in an emergency c-section. Despite the desire to have a natural childbirth, Diana heard that because her little girl was so low and so small that the contractions may severely injure the baby. She had already gone into preterm labor many times and had to spend hours and days trying to get it to stop so the tiny twins could finish developing.

After a stay in the NICU for both babies they finally returned home as a family of 5. However, there were concerns for the female twin (Amelia) and they continued to ask their pediatrician and follow directions. One night during a feeding, Corey noticed that Amelia had a swollen leg. They immediately took her to the emergency room and their concerns became greater as the day went on. Not only did Amelia have a fractured femur but a ton of other fractures in her body in various stages of healing. Before they knew it, Corey and Diana found themself in the unfortunate club of fractured families whose children were removed for suspected child abuse - when really the reason for the injuries was clearly medical.

They have been fighting to find all the medical answers to explain not only how their daughter can be best supported in her health but also to prove that they have not in fact abused their child and have all three of their children reunified back with them so they can continue life as a family of 5 and give their children the best care possible.

Knowing that her family has a history of bone diseases even at young ages, Diana immediately started looking for the answers in her and her daughter's genetics. She has seen specialists of highest caliber all over the country and found that she herself has a number of bone diseases that are all genetic and give a very good chance that her children could also inherit them. These diagnosis include: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobility type with marfanoid features (hEDS), osteopenia, and Diana is a carrier of the TNFRSF11A and SUCO gene and is continuing testing to determine the extent of her medical situation.

Despite knowing this - Camden County - Georgia DFCS has only allowed a very limited and controlled testing be done for Amelia. They have an upcoming permanency hearing coming up, but without a caseplan and a goal of non-reunification, this family needs our support to change the tide. We need to raise our voices up for the Sullivan Family and make sure Camden County Georgia DFCS knows that we are watching them.

Looking into these Georgia Families, there are several similar cases where families are facing serious charges and the loss of their children, and Georgia DFCS is not doing the necessary investigations before determining that abuse is taking place. In fact - Camden County has had a series of criminal allegations against their social workers of late.

To help the Sullivan family and others affected in Georgia here are some things that you can do to make a difference:

** Of note is that Dr Barbara Knox is the Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP) assigned to this case and you can read all about her history of false allegations and being investigated in her two former positions.

Diana and Corey Sullivan met in 6th grade and started dating in 8th grade. Married by 21, they immediately started trying to have children. When it didn't work out they turned to fertility doctors and ended up conceiving their first child the first time they tried IVF. In hopes of providing their daughter with a sibling they tried again and ran into many more challenges. However, they kept trying until they were pregnant with twins and were so excited to bring more children into their family.

After a precarious pregnancy, much of which was spent in the hospital with her and the female twin's medical conditions, the twins were born in an emergency c-section. Despite the desire to have a natural childbirth, Diana heard that because her little girl was so low and so small that the contractions may severely injure the baby. She had already gone into preterm labor many times and had to spend hours and days trying to get it to stop so the tiny twins could finish developing.

After a stay in the NICU for both babies they finally returned home as a family of 5. However, there were concerns for the female twin (Amelia) and they continued to ask their pediatrician and follow directions. One night during a feeding, Corey noticed that Amelia had a swollen leg. They immediately took her to the emergency room and their concerns became greater as the day went on. Not only did Amelia have a fractured femur but a ton of other fractures in her body in various stages of healing. Before they knew it, Corey and Diana found themself in the unfortunate club of fractured families whose children were removed for suspected child abuse - when really the reason for the injuries was clearly medical.

They have been fighting to find all the medical answers to explain not only how their daughter can be best supported in her health but also to prove that they have not in fact abused their child and have all three of their children reunified back with them so they can continue life as a family of 5 and give their children the best care possible.

Knowing that her family has a history of bone diseases even at young ages, Diana immediately started looking for the answers in her and her daughter's genetics. She has seen specialists of highest caliber all over the country and found that she herself has a number of bone diseases that are all genetic and give a very good chance that her children could also inherit them. These diagnosis include: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobility type with marfanoid features (hEDS), osteopenia, and Diana is a carrier of the TNFRSF11A and SUCO gene and is continuing testing to determine the extent of her medical situation.

Despite knowing this - Camden County - Georgia DFCS has only allowed a very limited and controlled testing be done for Amelia. They have an upcoming permanency hearing coming up, but without a caseplan and a goal of non-reunification, this family needs our support to change the tide. We need to raise our voices up for the Sullivan Family and make sure Camden County Georgia DFCS knows that we are watching them.

Looking into these Georgia Families, there are several similar cases where families are facing serious charges and the loss of their children, and Georgia DFCS is not doing the necessary investigations before determining that abuse is taking place. In fact - Camden County has had a series of criminal allegations against their social workers of late.

To help the Sullivan family and others affected in Georgia here are some things that you can do to make a difference:

** Of note is that Dr Barbara Knox is the Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP) assigned to this case and you can read all about her history of false allegations and being investigated in her two former positions.

Diana and Corey Sullivan met in 6th grade and started dating in 8th grade. Married by 21, they immediately started trying to have children. When it didn't work out they turned to fertility doctors and ended up conceiving their first child the first time they tried IVF. In hopes of providing their daughter with a sibling they tried again and ran into many more challenges. However, they kept trying until they were pregnant with twins and were so excited to bring more children into their family.

After a precarious pregnancy, much of which was spent in the hospital with her and the female twin's medical conditions, the twins were born in an emergency c-section. Despite the desire to have a natural childbirth, Diana heard that because her little girl was so low and so small that the contractions may severely injure the baby. She had already gone into preterm labor many times and had to spend hours and days trying to get it to stop so the tiny twins could finish developing.

After a stay in the NICU for both babies they finally returned home as a family of 5. However, there were concerns for the female twin (Amelia) and they continued to ask their pediatrician and follow directions. One night during a feeding, Corey noticed that Amelia had a swollen leg. They immediately took her to the emergency room and their concerns became greater as the day went on. Not only did Amelia have a fractured femur but a ton of other fractures in her body in various stages of healing. Before they knew it, Corey and Diana found themself in the unfortunate club of fractured families whose children were removed for suspected child abuse - when really the reason for the injuries was clearly medical.

They have been fighting to find all the medical answers to explain not only how their daughter can be best supported in her health but also to prove that they have not in fact abused their child and have all three of their children reunified back with them so they can continue life as a family of 5 and give their children the best care possible.

Knowing that her family has a history of bone diseases even at young ages, Diana immediately started looking for the answers in her and her daughter's genetics. She has seen specialists of highest caliber all over the country and found that she herself has a number of bone diseases that are all genetic and give a very good chance that her children could also inherit them. These diagnosis include: EDS hypermobility type with marfanoid features (hEDS), osteopenia, and Diana is a carrier of the TNFRSF11A and SUCO gene and is continuing testing to determine the extent of her medical situation.

Despite knowing this - Camden County - Georgia DFCS has only allowed a very limited and controlled testing be done for Amelia. They have an upcoming permanency hearing coming up, but without a caseplan and a goal of non-reunification, this family needs our support to change the tide. We need to raise our voices up for the Sullivan Family and make sure Camden County Georgia DFCS knows that we are watching them.

Looking into these Georgia Families, there are several similar cases where families are facing serious charges and the loss of their children, and Georgia DFCS is not doing the necessary investigations before determining that abuse is taking place. In fact - Camden County has had a series of criminal allegations against their social workers of late.

To help the Sullivan family and others affected in Georgia here are some things that you can do to make a difference:

** Of note is that Dr Barbara Knox is the Child Abuse Pediatrician (CAP) assigned to this case and you can read all about her history of false allegations and being investigated in her two former positions.

We have an update for you regarding the Hernandez Family. An unexpected turn of events at a court hearing which was just supposed to age a review this week - resulted in the girls moving to family members (pending the resolution of the criminal charges) and Georgia DFCS closing the case against the Matt and Tuckey! The family is overjoyed at this victory and so glad the truth finally came out. Hopefully, the state will drop the criminal charges soon and this family can be completely reunified.

A huge thanks to our listeners who have shared the Hernandez Family podcast episodes and TikToks - blowing up millions of viewers - let's keep raising the voices of these families who only want to find the answers for their children's medical conditions and ended up accused of child abuse.

Jack & Cat got a chance to chat with Richi from Tiktok about his post on the trending tok "Why do white people adopt black children?" We learned about his adoption from Haiti, along with his older biological brother (who may soon be younger). We chatted about his experience as a black man with white parents and how that has affected him in his life.