CPS Takes Children Away Citing Home Birth, Endangerment, Diaper Rash/Eczema
Folks, if you haven’t heard by now, please read this post and pay attention. There is a very focused effort, buy government, to destroy the autonomy and strength of family in lieu of government control.
The Rengo family in Washington has had all three of their children taken away in 2013, and the short of it is because they birthed them at home, breast feed them, use some natural medicinal remedies for diaper rash and eczema and refused unnecessary hospital trip requests. Yep, that’s it. Doctors have weighed in and supported the health of the kids, neighbors and friends have weighed in. The family is loving and nurturing. But yet, they fight, to this day, to get their kids back.
Medical Kidnap gives a timeline of events:
All three of their babies have been taken away from them and placed in the care of strangers. Levi was 10 months old when his mother, local singer and songwriter Erica May Rengo, gave birth to his twin brother and sister, at their home in Bellingham, Washington. . . .
Decision to Home Birth
It was only natural for Erica to choose normal, family-centered birth. Erica herself was born at home, and says that her mother was a homebirth educator and La Leche League leader (a world-wide support and education group for breastfeeding mothers). She and Cleave chose a birth-center birth with their first baby, but decided to birth at home the second time. She knew that her body was perfectly designed to work for birth. She believed this was the direction God was showing them for the birth. Erica was very careful during her pregnancy to watch her diet and exercise, in preparation for the birth. She read, researched, and prepared.
She describes her homebirth as “exquisite” and “empowering.” Morna Kai Grace and Daniel Clemente were born into their parents’ loving arms. . . .
The Medical System Gets Involved
Sometime after the babies arrived on October 2, paramedics arrived to find the twins nursing and everybody doing fine. The twins each weighed over 5 lbs, and the paramedics allegedly verified that everyone appeared healthy. The paramedics allegedly recommended that they go to the hospital for evaluation, which is standard procedure for EMTs.
The Rengos say they declined, telling them they didn’t want to expose their newborns to the dirty environment of the hospital. They were planning to follow recommendations they had found, which stated that newborn twins should stay home for the first six weeks of life, to give their immune systems the opportunity to build up.
CPS Shows Up
The parents’ believe that because they chose not to go to the hospital at that time, somebody called CPS. A couple of social workers showed up the next day, and wanted to see all of the children. CPS told Erica that they were “here to help.” But Erica says that is not at all what happened.
When the social worker found some eczema on Levi’s skin Erica told her that she was treating it with some herbal remedies, including comfrey and calendula, as well as applying coconut oil and giving probiotics. She was also doing an elimination diet to try to locate what could be causing the skin condition. Even though it was in the healing process, the social worker became critical that Erica wasn’t treating his eczema with steroids, a treatment option that Erica wanted to save as a last resort because of the side effects. The CPS agent would later testify to the judge that Erica had neglected to treat him completely. . . .
CPS Takes Custody of Children
On November 6, CPS showed up at the front door while Erica was softly singing and playing her guitar to her resting babies. When she checked the door, they told her that they were there to take her children, citing neglect for not giving Levi steroids for his eczema, and the home-birth without medical prenatal care with the twins, as well as the allegations of abuse, accusations which Erica had already assured them were completely unfounded. She also had prenatal care, just not with a doctor.
With one baby on her back, the frightened mother fled out the back door with her children to a neighbor’s house, but police and CPS “hunted her down,” and took these breastfed babies from their mothers’ arms. The twins were 5 weeks old. . . .
After a media storm shed light on the issue and put pressure on the judge and governmental agencies, the judge let the children go home, with conditions.
Judge Verge, in allowing the parents to have their children back, reportedly made several conditions, threatening the young couple that their children would be removed again if they did not comply with his directives.
According to the Bellingham Herald, the judge stated he was giving the young parents “a second chance.” Seemingly admitting that there was never any question of abuse directed towards the children, the judge proceeded to lecture the young couple on how they should raise their family, ordering them to comply to such details such as:
- where they should live
- how a husband should treat his wife
- what they should feed their children
- what kind of medical treatment they are allowed to use for their children
Is this really the function of family court and government-funded social services such as Child Protection Services?
The children were once again taken from the family as they took a trip to see family and friends, a vacation.
Breastfeeding Mother Arrested and Babies Taken Away by Force: The Parents’ Side of the Story
Watch the video here from King 5 News:
Erica and Cleave Rengo were the subject of national interest as reports of them fleeing Washington CPS made the headlines. Last November, the holistic, devoutly Christian couple’s three breastfed babies were taken amidst accusations of neglect for choosing alternative remedies such as calendula and coconut oil for their older baby’s eczema and preferring not to take their newborn twins to the hospital after an unassisted homebirth, even though they were reportedly healthy.
After a court hearing and huge public outcry, the babies were returned home in December. It had been a grueling month of separation, and their return came with strings attached. They were being watched, and reportedly had a number of conditions placed upon them in order to be permitted to parent Levi, and the twins, 4 month old Daniel and Morna Kai.
CPS demand the couple separate in order for them to have children returned.
Like the separation from their children, the couple’s separation is not by choice. CPS is “trying to make [Cleave] out to be a monster, but he’s not,” Erica told Health Impact News. She reports that CPS has told her that she must leave him and get her own place, in order for them to consider giving the babies back to her. She is also required to see a therapist, of the state’s choosing, and attend domestic violence/sexual assault classes. Erica reports that she is complying with their demands. She feels that she has no choice, because nothing is more important to her as a mother than getting her babies back.
Erica has maintained since her very first conversation with us that Cleave is not abusive. She has explained that some around them have interpreted their religious viewpoint that the husband is the head of the wife as being evidence of abuse. During their involvement with CPS, she says that lawyers and social workers alike have tried to pit husband against wife. She made it clear as she spoke with the Captain on his blogtalk radio show that “we love each other.”
Since that time the children’s health has deteriorated and the judge has demanded that the couple divorce. Read the details on Medical Kidnap.
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