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Doctors Tried to Take Our Daughter Away

FORTY-TWO and pregnant! The doctors were quick to point out the possibility of problems for a woman my age, as well as the problems the baby might have. A procedure called amniocentesis was suggested. By removing a small amount of amniotic fluid from the womb, doctors can determine whether there is a genetic defect, such as Down’s syndrome. Doctors generally suggest an abortion if such a defect is found.

However, I refused the test, explaining that under no circumstances would I agree to an abortion. With that out of the way, I looked forward to an enjoyable pregnancy. The next step in getting everything in order was to find a pediatrician who would respect our wishes and not give blood, since my husband and I are Jehovah’s Witnesses. We made an appointment, met with the doctor, and explained our stand on blood. (Genesis 9:4, 5; Leviticus 17:10-14; Acts 15:19, 20, 28, 29) He said he understood and that there was no problem. Well, that was easy, or so I thought.

A Successful Birth, but . . .

The due date was near, and how excited all of us were! I had been a widow raising three boys when I married again. My new husband, Gino, also inherited my mother, who has lived with me since my first husband died.

Labor started Monday night, February 17, 1986. Gino, Mother, and I left for the hospital, along with my youngest son, Matthew. The older boys preferred to wait at home. We were met in the maternity ward by Evelyn, a fellow Witness, who is a registered nurse. She had been informed that I was in labor and had immediately gone to the hospital. The birth was exciting for all of us. We occupied a birthing room, which provided a homey atmosphere. Gino was even able to cut the umbilical cord. One of the nurses brought in some ice cream, and we celebrated Kaleigh’s entrance into our lives.

Two days later I was home. There was never a shortage of helpers. My mother, who is 84, was such a source of help and encouragement. I tired quickly those first few days, so I really appreciated her caring for me and the baby. But after a week had gone by, we began to worry about Kaleigh. She was not nursing well and slept much more than I thought newborns should. Her color was changing to a yellowish tone. I called the pediatrician and made an appointment for that day.

By 2:00 p.m., the doctor had finished examining her and had taken the necessary blood for tests. We were told that he would call later with the results. His call finally came around five o’clock. We were told to take Kaleigh immediately to a teaching hospital over a hundred miles [160 km] northwest of us, as she was to have a complete blood exchange. I reminded the doctor that we are Jehovah’s Witnesses and again stated that we would not accept a blood transfusion under any circumstances. If he was not going to respect our beliefs, we asked him to please tell us immediately so that we could find a doctor who would.

“I don’t know,” he replied, “I have to think about it and then let you know.”

We patiently waited for his return call. Not hearing from him by 7:00 p.m., Gino called and was told the doctor had not yet decided how he felt. We were now very suspicious, since the doctor had emphasized how important it was to treat Kaleigh right away. At this point we called fellow Witnesses for their encouragement and assistance. Their response was immediate, some coming from as far away as 20 miles [30 km].

At 9:00 p.m. the doctor called and asked us to put Kaleigh in our local hospital for some more tests. Gino knew that once Kaleigh was there, they could gain complete authority over her and would see to it that she was transported to the teaching hospital for the blood exchange. So my husband said he would think about it and let the doctor know in the morning.

Meanwhile, our fellow Witnesses were on the telephone trying desperately to locate another pediatrician. Because of the late hour, their efforts were futile. Kaleigh looked terrible, and my emotional state was getting worse. The doctor’s warning about how sick Kaleigh was, and how dangerous severe jaundice is, kept going through my mind. As I held her in my arms and cried, I wondered how the doctor was dealing with his conscience, knowing that he had been so deceitful with us.

How comforting it was as our Christian brothers gathered together and prayed in our behalf. I felt greatly strengthened and encouraged to face whatever lay ahead. The search for a doctor was still going on, and it was now 11:30 p.m. Gino quietly told me that we had better leave the house. He was sure the doctors were up to something. I could not bring myself really to believe this. But Gino repeated: “We’d better get out of here soon.” Still, I just sat there.

Then, at about 11:45 p.m., the telephone rang. It was Evelyn, calling from the hospital. She had been asked to work an unscheduled shift that evening, something that was most unusual. While assisting in the delivery room, the doctor was called out to confer on a case involving the giving of a transfusion and obtaining a court order to do so. Now I was convinced!

Escape in the Nick of Time

We literally threw things in a suitcase, put food items and the like in grocery bags, and rushed to the car. We were given the name of a doctor in Jacksonville, Florida, who would possibly help. It would be a 200-mile [320 km] drive, and it was five past midnight when we left.

Fifteen minutes later, a car and an ambulance with its lights flashing arrived at our house. Five officials from the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services knocked on the door. Mother got out of bed, went calmly to the door, and simply stated that the baby and her parents were not there. They asked to come in and see for themselves. They said that they were to take the baby with them. Every room was checked thoroughly. They even looked in one of the boys’ dresser drawers. Mother could not help but ask: “You don’t really think they’d stick the baby in there, do you?”

It was about five o’clock in the morning when we reached Jacksonville. Now a four-hour wait was necessary. The doctor that we had hoped to see did not open his office until 9:00 a.m. As we waited anxiously, I could not help thinking whether the doctors back in Vero Beach were really as concerned about my baby’s health as they were about getting their own way. Even though they may have meant well, their position that a blood transfusion was necessary to save Kaleigh from serious harm was simply not true. There is medically recognized nonblood management for Kaleigh’s condition, and that is all that we were seeking.

Promptly at 9:00 a.m., we called the doctor’s office, explaining the urgency of our situation to the nurse. She said that the doctor would call us as soon as he could. We called again and again. Finally, the nurse said that the doctor would not call and would not help us. It was now 1:00 p.m. We felt so helpless and frustrated. I decided then to go downstairs to the lobby and use the telephone there, not wanting to tie up the telephone in the room.

Source of Help

I called a local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. A Witness working there kindly listened and immediately came to our aid. He hurried to the motel and took us to a couple of clinics, but neither could help us, as they did not have the proper equipment. Kaleigh was in need of special light treatment, or phototherapy. Her bilirubin level had risen to 29 milligrams per 100 milliliters, and a level of 25 is considered serious.

The Witness then remembered a hospital and a doctor who had recently operated without blood on the baby daughter of a Witness couple. So we headed there. But we decided to stay close to Kaleigh and not let her out of our sight until we were positive that our Bible-based wishes would be respected. We entered the emergency room and answered all the questions asked. In disbelief the nurse kept asking: “Why was it that you drove all the way up here from Vero? I can’t believe that right here in Florida, they would actually forcibly take a baby away from people as nice as you.”

Once the paperwork was completed, things moved quickly. All of us were led into an examining room, where Kaleigh was undressed, and the critical care team was called in. Like an echo down the hall we heard: “They are Jehovah’s Witnesses, no blood, no blood.” Soon the doctor who headed the critical care team entered the scene and announced that he wanted to do a complete blood exchange.

Gino firmly stated our position once again, and the doctor went off to confer with his peers. It was now necessary to start an IV in Kaleigh. I was physically and emotionally drained by now and just could not bear to see the baby stuck with any more needles or listen to her screaming. At this point, Gino was beginning to wonder about whether the baby would make it through all of this. He carefully gathered a few wisps of hair from her head and put them in his pocket. He wanted to have something from his little girl to remember her by.

That night, Kaleigh was settled in her incubatorlike bed with bandages over her eyes to protect them from the special lights they use in such cases. Gino and I were still doubtful that our stand on the blood issue would be respected, so we did not dare leave the baby’s side, even though this would be our second night without sleep. The doctor in charge came into the room and again brought up his desire to give Kaleigh a transfusion. Again, he was given an explanation of our Bible-based stand on blood.

Finally, he said: “All right, what’s the bottom line?” Gino made it clear that we would do all we could to prevent our baby from getting a transfusion. Indeed, we had just driven 200 miles [320 km] in the middle of the night to prevent such a thing. He told the doctor that another court order would have to be obtained, but by then we would be gone. The doctor walked away saying nothing. Again we prepared ourselves. Would we have to grab the baby and run? I peeked out the room and looked down the hall. I wanted to know where the exits were, just in case.

The night passed slowly. Every two hours a blood sample was taken from Kaleigh’s heel. The high count was slowly going down. The treatment was working! During the next two days, regular blood tests were taken every two hours. Kaleigh’s little heels were raw from all the sticks. She was actually becoming used to it, and at times she did not even cry when pricked.

In the meantime, we enjoyed loving visits from many of the Witnesses from the Jacksonville area who had learned of our situation. The couple whose baby girl had recently had surgery done without blood were some of the first to come. How encouraging they were to us! A cardiologist now told us that a transfusion would be of greater risk than the jaundice. With that information we finally felt that it was safe to leave the baby’s side for the first time in three days.

Complete Recovery

After many doctors from various fields of medicine gave the baby thorough examinations, we were told that she had no adverse effects from the jaundice, which they said surprised them. We could now finally go home. I could not wait to hold Kaleigh without all the IV tubes attached to her. Because we exercised our informed choice for the safe phototherapy and because we rejected blood with all its risks, we do not worry about Kaleigh’s coming down with AIDS, hepatitis, or some other dreadful disease.

One more problem still faced us. The court order in Vero Beach was still in effect, so we did not dare leave until it was canceled. The doctor in charge was kind enough to make the necessary telephone calls, notifying the proper authorities of the treatment the baby received. With that taken care of, we returned home.

We would not, of course, consider taking Kaleigh back to her original pediatrician. The doctors in Jacksonville, assuming this, agreed to hold all the baby’s records until we found another doctor. Little did we realize how well-known our little girl was and how prejudiced the doctors in Vero Beach were!

I made an appointment with another pediatrician who was recommended to us because he had said that he would respect Jehovah’s Witnesses on the blood issue. I took Kaleigh to his office. I undressed her, and the nurse weighed her and took her temperature. Kaleigh lay on the table waiting for the doctor. He came in and walked past her, stating that he and the other pediatricians agreed that they would not treat the baby and that they supported the pediatrician who had got the court order.

I mentioned that he had told friends of mine that he would cooperate with our position on the blood issue. He claimed he had not really said that he would. “Well, they certainly feel that you meant what you said,” I replied. With that he left the room, never once looking at the baby lying on the table. As I dressed her, I began to cry again, thinking of how callous men have become, including those who are supposed to be dedicated to the care of their fellowman.

In order for Kaleigh to have her checkups, it was necessary for me to take her over 40 miles [60 km] to a doctor willing to treat her. I think that many doctors really do not believe we will actually abstain from blood when it comes down to a critical life-and-death situation. They feel that we will change our minds. We need to make it known that we are sincere, dedicated Witnesses of our God and that obedience to his law comes before any other consideration.

Our experience has proved helpful for other Witness parents in discussing medical treatment with their doctor. They have become more specific in questioning their doctor as to just what he or she would do under specific circumstances. ‘How would you have handled that?’ they have asked in referring to our situation. And citing our experience has made doctors realize that Jehovah’s Witnesses really mean what they say.

We were surprised about six months afterward to receive a letter from the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services stating that they had finished their investigation of the charges of medical neglect against us. The charges, the letter said, had proved to be unfounded and were being dropped. I called the department to inquire as to their investigation. I was curious about just what this investigation involved. The woman in charge said that they simply called Jacksonville to be sure of what was done. They were satisfied with that.

Kaleigh is now three years old. She is a picture of health and a constant source of joy. She loves people and enjoys adopting others in the congregation as her temporary mom or dad. Many times the remark has been made, “Oh, what a pretty granddaughter you have!” I just smile and say, “No, she’s all mine.” How thankful to our loving God I am!​—As told by Bonnie Deskins.

[Blurb on page 13]

“They said that they were to take the baby with them”

[Blurb on page 14]

“Would we have to grab the baby and run?”

[Picture on page 15]

With my daughter, Kaleigh