Bring The Brook Twins Home
On March 15, 2021, at 33 weeks gestation, my sister, Arianna and her husband Tae's twins were delivered via emergency c-section. A'mir was born weighing 4lbs 4oz and Aniyah weighed 3lbs 14oz. Because of this, they spent the first couple of weeks of their life in the NICU. My sister was not allowed to stay in the hospital with her babies due to COVID restrictions and lack of space. Still, my sister made the trek from her home to the hospital, daily, even though she had just had major surgery and it took a toll on her mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Finally, on April 2nd A'mir was able to come home and not too long after, on April 4th, Aniyah was home as well. All was as it should be and life was perfect. The children attended all scheduled well baby check ups and were noted to be thriving and reaching all major milestones right on time.
On May 31st, my sister and her husband noticed a lump on Aniyah's arm, and when my sister touched it, Aniyah screamed. They IMMEDIATELY took my niece to the emergency room, and that's when the nightmare began. Aniyah had a full body scan and it was found that she had over 30 fractures. The doctors then asked to scan A'mir and it was found that he had identical fractures to his sister. There are
no bruises. No broken blood vessels in the eyes, no swelling; CT scans are clean. No subdural hematoma which would be indicative of shaken baby syndrome. No other "signs" of abuse. THE ONLY PART OF THE BABIES THAT ARE AFFECTED ARE THE BONES. Babies who are born prematurely are predisposed to bone abnormalities. This all could have been cause by normal, everyday handling or a genetic predisposition. Instead of looking for the cause of these identical fractures, the hospital accused Arianna and Tae of abuse, put a cast on each of the twins arms (which was removed less than 72hrs later), and placed them in foster care the following day.
My sister continues to pump every threes hours to provide for her infants' nutritional needs, which shows true dedication and love for her babies, but that is all she is able to do for them at this time. She only gets to see her breastfed infants ONCE A WEEK FOR 2 HOURS although the magistrate suggested more time! MULTIPLE medical professionals have assessed the films and determined that the fractures could be the result of a vitamin D deficiency. My sister had a blood panel done and 5 months AFTER giving birth she was still SEVERELY deficient meaning during her pregnancy, the babies didn’t receive sufficient amounts for bone development.
Neither the CPS system nor the hospital is doing anything to get to the root cause of the fractures. They have refused to do the requested genetic testing which could help to explain this phenomenon. A continuance had to be obtained by my sister's appointed lawyer because the state refused to produce records. They have therefore denied these parents of their right to TIMELY, due process and ultimately, reunification with their children. Instead of being presumed innocent until proven guilty, my sister and brother-in-law are now having to prove their innocence, which is not cheap.
My sister and her husband have found multiple medical professionals but they refuse to testify because of fear of backlash from the medical community (their words not mine). Isn't that unethical? What about their oath to "do no harm"? A Family is being ripped apart! They have found a few experts who are willing to write a report/testify yet, they charge exorbitant amounts: up to $600/hr for the report and $3,000+ to testify!! Although my sister and brother-in-law have a small savings, they need A LOT more. I am setting a goal of a minimum of $10,000 to help cover these expenses.
This is a young family being denied the ability to thrive simply because they don't have the funds to fight a corrupt system. Being normal, working class individuals in your 20's is NOT a crime. You should not be punished for doing what is right.
Please contribute and share this as much as you are able assist in restoring this family so that they can begin the healing process. Thank you in advanced for your help and your prayers!
