She was raped as a girl, so they are going to take her baby.

[PONY_DRIVER]

WTF is the only thing that comes to mind.


She was raped as a girl, so they are going to take her baby.


Threat to take new-born over emotional abuse
By David Harrison, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:42am BST 26/08/2007



A pregnant woman has been told that her baby will be taken from her at birth because she is deemed capable of "emotional abuse", even though psychiatrists treating her say there is no evidence to suggest that she will harm her child in any way.

Social services' recommendation that the baby should be taken from Fran Lyon, a 22-year-old charity worker who has five A-levels and a degree in neuroscience, was based in part on a letter from a paediatrician she has never met.

Hexham children's services, part of Northumberland County Council, said the decision had been made because Miss Lyon was likely to suffer from Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy, a condition unproven by science in which a mother will make up an illness in her child, or harm it, to draw attention to herself.

Under the plan, a doctor will hand the newborn to a social worker, provided there are no medical complications. Social services' request for an emergency protection order - these are usually granted - will be heard in secret in the family court at Hexham magistrates on the same day.

From then on, anyone discussing the case, including Miss Lyon, will be deemed to be in contempt of the court.

Miss Lyon, from Hexham, who is five months pregnant, is seeking a judicial review of the decision about Molly, as she calls her baby. She described it as "barbaric and draconian", and said it was "scandalous" that social services had not accepted submissions supporting her case.

"The paediatrician has never met me," she said. "He is not a psychiatrist and cannot possibly make assertions about my current or future mental health. Yet his letter was the only one considered in the case conference on August 16 which lasted just 10 minutes."

Northumberland County Council insists that two highly experienced doctors - another consultant paediatrician and a medical consultant - attended the case conference.

The case adds to growing concern, highlighted in a series of articles in The Sunday Telegraph, over a huge rise in the number of babies under a year old being taken from parents. The figure was 2,000 last year, three times the number 10 years ago.

Critics say councils are taking more babies from parents to help them meet adoption "targets".

John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP and chairman of the Justice for Families campaign group, said the case showed "exactly what is wrong with public family law".

He added: "There is absolutely no evidence that Fran would harm her child. However, a vague letter from a paediatrician who has never met her has been used in a decision to remove her baby at birth, while evidence from professionals treating her, that she would have no problems has been ignored."

Mr Hemming was concerned that "vague assertions" of Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy - now known as "fabricated and invented illness" - had been used to remove a number of children from parents in the North-East.

Miss Lyon came under scrutiny because she had a mental health problem when she was 16 after being physically and emotionally abused by her father and raped by a stranger.

She suffered eating disorders and self-harm but, after therapy, graduated from Edinburgh University and now works for two mental health charities, Borderline and Personality Plus.

Dr Stella Newrith, a consultant psychiatrist, who treated Miss Lyon for her childhood trauma for a year, wrote to Northumberland social services stating: "There has never been any clinical evidence to suggest that Fran would put herself or others at risk, and there is certainly no evidence to suggest that she would put a child at risk of emotional, physical or sexual harm."

Despite this support, endorsed by other psychiatrists and Miss Lyon's GP, social services based their recommendation partly on a letter from Dr Martin Ward Platt, a consultant paediatrician, who was unable to attend the meeting.

He wrote: "Even in the absence of a psychological assessment, if the professionals were concerned on the evidence available that Miss Holton (as Miss Lyon was briefly known), probably does fabricate or induce illness, there would be no option but the precautionary principle of taking the baby into foster care at birth, pending a post-natal forensic psychological assessment."

Miss Lyon said she was determined to fight the decision. "I know I can be a good mother to Molly. I just want the chance to prove it," she said.

The council said the recommendation would be subject to further assessment and review. "When making such difficult decisions, safeguarding children is our foremost priority," a spokesman said.

• A recording of social workers threatening to take a newborn into care has been removed from the YouTube website after Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire started legal action, claiming the Data Protection Act was breached.

Vanessa Brookes, 34, taped social workers telling her and her husband that they would seek to place the baby, due next month, in care, while admitting there was "no immediate risk to the child."

[rockota]

I hate social workers.

[CronusTRD]

hell, the rape was 18 years ago as well...at first I thought it was the rapist's kid.

[Benzz0]

how in the FUCK can a Dr. who has NEVER treated someone make a judgement like that?

If I where her I would have the baby in private and tell them to fuck off....

social workers are egotistical fag bags that had their ass whipped too many times in high school and abuse their powers given to them....kinda like an IRS dude that weighs 80lb.s

[Doc Holiday13]

she needs to hire a friend who is a birthing mother and have a home birth or just leave the state

[tacoma73]

ahhhh, the never-pleasant logical extension of socialist medicine.

Pay attention folks, it's coming to a neighborhood near you.

[JeepJerrySeinfeld]

they would have to kill me to take my baby after my wife gave birth to him/her, plain and simple but i would take some of them with me

[proletariat]

I would have my own personal Ruby Ridge incident. Grr.

[rkcrawl]

Britian has a F'd up sense of social care...

[PONY_DRIVER]

Originally Posted by proletariat

I would have my own personal Ruby Ridge incident. Grr.

Ah, but they've all but eradicated that pesky civilian gun ownership.

I agree with tacoma73, this crap is likely headed our way. Hindsight being 20/20 the VT/Cho incident has created or rather cause another monster to resurface. Pre-crime. Looking back they say that it was obvious that he was AFU, therefore anyone who fits his profile should be barred from owning a firearm. The next progression will be "people who have had X experience are likely to do Y" so we should bar them from _____.

[rugger]

How would social services know that she was raped?

People open their big mouths too much and it all goes down hill from there.

Not all social workers are bad. I'd wager to say that most are wonderfully good hearted. Social services workers are a different story. They are a class of their own. Kill 'em all.....let God sort 'em out.

[mantis]

Originally Posted by PONY_DRIVER

WTF is the only thing that comes to mind.


She was raped as a girl, so they are going to take her baby.

Could you post the link to the story? I want to send it to my wife.

[Sue]

Bizarre. I read the article thinking "there's gotta be more to it than there saying" but I didn't see it. With the statistics on rape/molestation, very few people would be able to keep their child if this line of thinking was followed.

[gotmuddy]

Originally Posted by mantis

Could you post the link to the story? I want to send it to my wife.

x2

[Co Pilot]

WTF???



So do all women who were raped have thier children taken away in this town?? Or just this lucky gal??

[PONY_DRIVER]

Originally Posted by rugger

How would social services know that she was raped?

People open their big mouths too much and it all goes down hill from there.

Not all social workers are bad. I'd wager to say that most are wonderfully good hearted. Social services workers are a different story. They are a class of their own. Kill 'em all.....let God sort 'em out.

Read the article. She was treated for a mental health issue after being abused by her father and raped by a stranger.


Miss Lyon came under scrutiny because she had a mental health problem when she was 16 after being physically and emotionally abused by her father and raped by a stranger.

Originally Posted by mantis

Could you post the link to the story? I want to send it to my wife.

Sure

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...6/nbaby126.xml

[thumping]

Originally Posted by Doc Holiday13

she needs to hire a friend who is a birthing mother and have a home birth or just leave the state

Exactly what I was thinking...screw the sob's!

[Doc Holiday13]

OOOh and what ever happened to Doctor Patient confidentiality?? Sounds like someone opened their mouth

[CaryW]

Unless they could take her passport, I would be like Eddie Murphy, Coming to America!

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by CaryW

Unless they could take her passport, I would be like Eddie Murphy, Coming to America!

Oh, so you support Anchor Babies???

[xrayjeeper83]

It looks like this happened in England, so I dont know what good moving would do. Enless she moved to America

[CaryW]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Oh, so you support Anchor Babies???

Hell, if she is semi hott, with that kind of earning potential, I would even be her sponsor family

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by xrayjeeper83

It looks like this happened in England, so I dont know what good moving would do. Enless she moved to America

Please lock yourself in a small room until you can take part in a conversation with us.

[RiKMiL]

Who wouldnt need counceling after a molesting past like that? If she was cured it should be a closing to that chapter in her life. I cant understand someone else bringing it back up 6 years later, only to make her go crazy again. And since when is it bad to visit the doctor for little things. Hypocondriacs (spelling?) do that crap all the time.

[HighToy]

There would no force on earth that would remove my baby from my arms.