SOS Alert: Family in Need; Critical and Time Sensitive

**Names have been changed to protect the identity of parties involved**

Sometimes it is not adoption agencies that we have to fight against. Sometimes our emergencies are because of people who are supposed to support, encourage, and protect us – family members. When Lindsey, who is 19, gave birth to her child 3 days ago, she never imagined she would have to fight her mother for her child. However, sadly, this is the case for this SOS emergency.

Lindsey is 19. She was discharged from the hospital yesterday with her baby. Lindsey’s mother, has since decided that she would like to have the baby removed from Lindsey’s care and has called CPS to assist her with this. While SOS does not typically get involved with anything CPS related, this situation is different. Mom and baby are healthy, mom has no drug or alcohol use, and no criminal record. We have a sister on the ground who has confirmed all of this and Lindsey is thoroughly vetted. I’m not sure how anyone can make claims that someone is a neglectful mother when she was just discharged from the hospital the day before, but this is exactly what her mother is doing. Her claim is that Lindsey isn’t eating and its not good for the baby, even though Lindsey is supplementing with formula; and Lindsey IS eating. That’s the best she could do as far as claims of negligence.

While we like to think that we can rely on CPS to be fair, the fact remains that many people use this system to get what they want and to have children unfairly removed from the care of their parent(s). For this reason, it was important to get this mom, and her boyfriend, as far away from the situation as possible, before things started to snowball and this mother was left without the resources she would need to fight such a big machine; a machine that is being driven by her own mother.

Lindsey is not alone. She has her boyfriend, Tom, who is also the father of her child. Tom is VERY supportive, VERY involved and has been by her side the entire way. She has Tom’s family, Tom’s mother and his aunt. The only down side is that Tom’s family is on the other side of the country and getting this young couple there is not going to be easy.  As I write this, we have a sister on the ground. We are actually utilizing many sisters but this sister, at this moment, should be picking them up and bringing them to the bus station for a trip to Tennessee. Once in Tennessee, arrangements have been made for a hotel room for them to stay in. From Tennessee, they will be going to Kentucky and will need arrangements for another night there, another hotel room. After this their final destination will be Pennsylvania, with the paternal family, Tom’s family, where they will be sheltered, safe, and have the support they need to keep their family in tact.

Because of this, we need special, emergency fundraising. We need to recoup the costs of travel (the bus tickets) and the first hotel room as well as paying for the second hotel room in Kentucky.

All this mom and dad need are to get to their safe place, to Tom’s mother. Once they are there everything else will easily fall in place. Today we are asking our network if they can find it in their hearts to donate monetarily in order to get this couple and their baby to safety. It really is an emergency situation.

No one should have to be scared that their own mother will try to take their baby away. No one should have to flee to the other side of the country to make sure this doesn’t happen. Unfortunately this IS happening. Let’s help get Lindsey and Tom to safety and the support they need. Please see below for steps to donate.

To donate directly to this cause, please visit www.cubirthparents.org (opens in a new tab).

Click on “DONATE.”

Click on “donate” under the drop down menu.

Click on “Saving Our Sisters.”

Enter the amount you would like to donate and click “Donate” once again.

That’s it, you’re done! Thank you for helping save this family!