This family needs your prayers.

I know I have lots of catching up to do, and I will get to that, but first things first. This is my little brother and his family. That little cutie in the middle, is my nephew, Mason. Mason was taken away from my brother and his wife about 2 weeks ago and it has devastated our family.

When Mason was born he was born with a very large hematoma on his head. His pediatrician assured my brother and his wife that it was completely normal and would go away by the time he was two months old. His head kept getting larger and larger, and my brother and sister in law kept telling the pediatrician they were worried about it, but she kept saying over and over again that it was normal, and it would go away.

At two months old it was still there, but much bigger, so my brother asked the pediatrician if she could maybe do some testing, because they just didn't feel right about it. She said no, that it was normal, and any testing would be a waist of time. My brother insisted, she said, "fine, but it's a waist of every one's time" and ordered some tests.

The day after some tests were ran the x-ray tech called the pediatrician and said that Mason needed to be seen by a Neuro Surgeon right away. My brother and his wife drove Mason the 5 hours to Phoenix Children's Hospital for the Neuro guy to check him out. He said that he had to have a surgery and Mason would need to have a shunt put in. That he had fluid on his brain and that it needed to be done soon.

Two weeks later my brother and sister in law drove back down to Children's Hospital so little Mason could have his brain surgery. He is only 4 months old. A few short hours after his surgery my brother and sister in law were notified that CPS (child protective services) has been notified. Then they took Mason away, just a few hours after his brain surgery and placed him with a foster Mom.

CPS is saying that they feel that maybe Mason's injuries were caused by shaken baby syndrome. They took Mason without talking with his brain surgeon, without pulling Mason's prior records, they decided in two hours to take him because he was an infant with a head trauma. Since then we have been trying to get them to see that he was born with this. CPS has admitted that they didn't have all of his records when they took him, but they said that they "heard" he had a fractured skull. We have asked to see records indicating a fractured skull. Mysteriously, no one can find those records. It has been TWO weeks, and they STILL have not pulled his records from birth documenting that he was born with a large hematoma on his head.

Mason's Neuro Surgeon has gone on record SEVERAL times stating that this is NOT a result of child abuse, that this is in fact a birth defect, and that his pediatrician missed it, and she should have caught it because he head got larger every time they took him in for a well child visit.

This whole thing has been so frustrating and so infuriating. There is NOTHING we can do. CPS has the power to take a child from a home WITHOUT pulling prior records, WITHOUT talking with a BRAIN SURGEON and WITHOUT trying to place that child in a family member's home before a foster home. Since this has happened we have talked with MANY other families that have had similar experiences. CPS, like so many other government agencies, has no check and balances. They have admitted to us SEVERAL times, that this is a rare case, and that it probably WAS just a birth defect, but they already took him, after they ADMITTED they didn't know the whole story when they took him, and now they can't give him back for like SIX MONTHS, because they have protocol and such. They can decide in TWO HOURS to take him, but it will take SIX months to give him back!!!!

The detective at the police station had to interview both my brother and sister in law, and he said that he KNEW that this was not an instance with child abuse, and that there would be no charges pressed. Yet, CPS still has control of Mason. Mason's doctors are saying, this was not child abuse, yet CPS still has control of Mason.

We were finally able to place Mason with my wonderful sister. CPS would not let my parents have him because they baby-sat for Mason in the past. There was a court hearing last week, and my brother's lawyer and my sister in law's lawyer said that CPS has informed the lawyers that they WOULD NOT get Mason back unless they agreed that they needed to take some parenting classes, and go through child abuse counseling. WTF???? They have to say they hurt their child to get him back!!??? What kind of messed up agency will take a child away from a good loving home and have doctors and police say it was not child abuse, but then agree to give the child back ONLY if the parents say they need help!!???

Right now it looks like they won't get Mason back for a few more months. They do get to see him, and he is back with family, but not his parents. He still needs a lot of medical care and he needs good thoughts, vibes and prayers.

This has torn my family up. This has torn MANY families up. I know CPS helps countless children, I KNOW that. I know that it was created for good, and that to many kids, it has been a life saver. But there are too many families out there that have had their children taken away because of a "hunch" and then can't get them back, even after they have PROVED that the hunch wasn't founded. Something needs to be done about this. Parents shouldn't be afraid to take their child in to the ER for medical care because their child may be taken away, and that has happened.

As this goes on, and as we find out more information I will pass it along. We are looking into many groups that are calling for a reform for CPS. We NEED CPS, we need them to help children, children need a voice. But it needs to be better.