Online Legal Information

What Are A Mother’s Rights When Her Child Is Taken From Her Care?

The main focus of this article is to determine what a mother’s right’s are when her child is taken from her care by protective services. My daughter was taken from me at the age of six-weeks old. I have not had my daughter in my care for thirteen months now and for a whole year I have been fighting to be reunified with my daughter. It all started in March of 2006. I had a live in boyfriend at the time and he was all the help I had at the time, being that I was a single mother and my daughter’s father didn’t want any responsibilities at the time. My ex-boyfriend was a great deal of help to me and my daughter. I didn’t need anything because he was there for me and my daughter and his mother was also helping us maintain our home. I worked and my ex-boyfriend didn’t work he basically periodically cared for my daughter while I was at work. My ex didn’t show any signs of anger, abusive behavior and any violence. Overall he was a loving man who helped me when I was in need.

It all started in March of 2006 when one day I had to work and I didn’t have anyone to babysit my daughter while I was at work. My ex-boyfriend agreed to care for my daughter until I returned home from work. I arrived at work at 10pm and then I recieved a phone call from home around 4:45pm in the evening. I answered the phone and my ex sounded histerical, he told me that my daugter was gasping for air so he had called the paramedics. I was very frightened being that I couldn’t stand the fact of being away from my newborn baby because I had to work but then something happens and I couldn’t be there to keep an eye on her because I had to work. I instantly left work and tried getting a ride home because the public transportation was too complicated. I lived on the west side of Detroit and I worked on the eastside. I arrived home that night when I finally decided to take public transportation because the person that I had contacted for a ride was did not arrive.

I arrived home around 10:30-11:00pm that night and my daughter was sleeping. I fix my daughter a bottle of formula and fed her. I layed he down to sleep around 12:00am. Thirty minutes later I heard my daughter began to cry so I went to pick her up to comfort her and when I picked her up she instantly vomitted. I paniced and called paramedics. When we arrived to the hospital my daughter weighted at 8 pounds, three ounces. The doctors examined my daughter and they diagnosed her with upper respiratory infection (viral cold) and they told me that my daughter was a little colic. I asked what I could do and the doctor stated just keep her wrapped in a blanket being that she was too young to take any medication. We were discharched from the hospital at 5:00am in the morning and I arrived at home around 6:00pm. I layed my daughter to sleep and she seemed to be not so well for the rest of the evening. I went to my mother’s house around 3:00pm and we stayed there for the rest of the evening. Around 11:45pm my daughter had a seizure I called the paramedics and they didn’t arrive until 20 minutes later. I took my daughter to the St. John Hospital and that is where she had another seizure in the E.R. The Doctors immediately did a CAT Scan of the head and the doctor came back and told me that my daughter had trauma to the head.

After the doctor told me what was wrong with my daughter the immediately took my daughter to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). From that moment on I no longer had my daughter in my custody. I didn’t see my daughter until three months later and that is when my once a week for one hour supervised visitations were started. It has been 14 months since my daughter was last in my care and I’m still recieving supervised visits for only two hours once a week. My ex-boyfriend is incarcerated he turned himself in to the police in October of 2006 and is currently incarcerated. His release date is in 2008 because he took a plea bargan. I’ve moved into a two bedroon town home and I have nothing but a safe and loving environment for my daugter. I’m complying with my parent treatment plan but at the same time my worked does nothing but commit purgery in the court when she is explaining to the courts that I’m in non-compliance with my treatment plan. I have been fighting to be reunited with my daughter and I also have been fighting for my rights as a mother overall. I have been denied access to my daughter’s medical records, her birth certificate, social security card, medicaid card, I can’t consult with the doctors or get my daugter seen by another doctor for an second opinion. I feel as if the only right I have to my daughter is to see her once a week for only two hours.

I have been trying to find help but unfortunately I don’t have much money. I’m a 21 year old single mother and I work a full-time job that takes care of my bills and my daughter. I don’t have any help neither am I being heard. I’m just asking when a mother’s child has been wrongfully taken from her care what rights does she have as a mother? What can she do pertaining to her own child?

I feel that the court system should be fully looked into to avoid such grief, pain and sufferings that many families all over the world go through and to avoid families being torn apart wrongfully. Hopefully one day a change can come and families will be reunited. I strongly believe in protecting children from harm but I disagree with the system and protective services when it comes down to them wrongfully tearing families apart.