Distraught Mom Says She Lost Custody of Twin Newborns Because of Her Holistic Lifestyle

Everything began 10 days earlier. “January 31, I took my 10-day old twins to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to establish care with a primary care provider," Cauthen told Fox 19. Initially, everything went well. The doctor even remarked that the babies looked healthy. Then Cauthen told the doctor that she was holistic. “I don’t get vaccinations. We don’t vaccinate. We don’t use any modern medications unless necessary,” she said.

After that, things got uncomfortable. The doctor said she was concerned about the twins’ weight. She suggested admitting her twins to the hospital to be monitored. Cauthen declined. “I explained to her that I don’t have to. They are my children, and you will be violating my rights if you force that upon me,” Cauthen said.

Then, the doctor offered to let her come back in a few days so the twins could be weighed. Cauthen told the doctor she had a scale at home and would weigh the twins herself. “Like, you can’t tell me what to do,” Cauthen said. “She automatically felt threatened, I guess in that sense, and she decided to threaten me with Child Protective Services.”

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Court records show that a report was filed with Hamilton County Job and Family Services for concern of “failure to thrive.” Court records stated that Cauthen’s daughter weighed 6.8 pounds at birth and was discharged at 6.3. At the checkup, the girl weighed 5.8 pounds, a 13% drop in birth weight. The boy weighed 7 pounds at birth, and was discharged at 6.7. During the checkup, he weighed 5.9 pounds, a 16% drop in weight. It’s normal for newborns to lose 7 to 10% of their birth weight, according to KidsHealth.org. Court records indicate that Cauthen refused to speak with a lactation consultant.

But Cauthen says she hired certified lactation consultant Wendy McHale three days after that doctor’s visit. McHale said Cauthen told her her babies were having trouble gaining weight and she needed breastfeeding support. After three days, both babies were gaining weight, McHale told Fox 19.

“Baby boy was now up to 6 pounds 1.2 ounces,” says McHale. “So, baby boy had gained in total in the three days now 4.2 ounces.” Cauthen’s newborn girl gained 0.7 ounces in three days, according to McHale. She communicated this to Cauthen’s caseworker. The caseworker was not impressed. “She did say multiple times that I'm not a pediatrician,” McHale said. “But if we were concerned about weight gain, I can definitely do weight checks.”

Cauthen and her twins were scheduled to return to the doctor for another appointment the following Wednesday. Cauthen was unable to make it and rescheduled for the following day. “She ended up, as often you are with newborns, late for the appointment,” McHale said. “And by the time she got there, sadly, the certified nurse practitioner had already left the office for the day.”

Later that night, on February 9, Cauthen got a call saying there was an order to remove her children from her home. Cauthen told the doctor, she would meet her at the hospital, right then, with her children. While her babies had gained weight, doctors said they wanted to see more progress. And they wanted her to put them on formula.

For the next six hours, doctors met with JFS. During that time, Cauthen got a call from one of her children’s fathers stating that they had been contacted by child protective services and they planned to take all seven of Cauthen’s children.

“So, I’m distraught here in this moment. I’m not understanding what is going on. I don’t even understand how they’re legally able to kidnap our children,” she said. Distraught at the possibility of losing her children, Cauthen called a 988 crisis hotline and told them she couldn’t live without her children.

“I’m like, but I just need to get these thoughts out,” explained Cauthen. “I need somebody to speak to. So, I’m talking to this person, and he asked me like, ‘Do you own a gun?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, like I have a gun.’ Like, I don’t have a gun. ‘But where is it?’ I’m like, ‘It’s in my car,’ like this. I’m talking to this person casually as I am with you. And I’m just like, you know, I just need somebody to talk to. Just get this off my chest. So, we’re on the phone for maybe like 45 minutes or so.”

After the call, Cincinnati police showed up to the door of her hospital room. Cauthen was arrested and placed on suicide watch. She was given a mental health evaluation which she passed in less than 12 hours. For six months, Cauthen was not allowed to see six of her children.

During a May 30, hearing, the court released an amended complaint against Cauthen, citing concerns over her mental health. The report stated that during visitation with her children, she discussed inappropriate topics with her children and showed up to their school demanding visitation. Cauthen denies the claims. Instead, she said she explained to her children why they had been separated. Cauthen also said she doesn’t understand why the complaints surfaced four months after her children were taken.

“It’s like human trafficking,” she said. “That’s what this is because when they put my newborns in foster care, they assumed I was not going to fight because most women don’t fight,” said Cauthen. “This is the hardest thing a mother could go through is having their children stripped from them without cause and not be able to speak on their own behalf.”

In the 10 months she’s been away from her children, she hasn’t been granted full custody. Instead, she has only received supervised visitation. Her next court date is scheduled for December 20.