Rare illness sparks child abuse investigation in Mission, B.C.

Doctors gave a Mission family multiple possible reasons why their baby couldn’t stop crying. X-ray tests then led to a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation.

Amanda Neufeld’s daughter will be turning two soon, but the family’s struggles began when the child was just eight weeks old.

“I was picking her up and I felt a crack in her back – and she would cry,” Neufeld said.

In May 2021, X-rays showed the girl had a broken collarbone.

“[The doctor] was saying that it would only happen by blunt force trauma or fall. Like there’s no other way that it could happen. And I’m like, well, I’m going based off what the doctors have said.”

Neufeld believes one of the doctors filed a report, and child protective services started what she says was a traumatizing investigation.

Neufeld says the investigation put her kids under 24-7 supervision for two months.

“If I wanted to go for a walk with my son or take my daughter out for a stroll around the block, I couldn’t go with them alone.”

But the Ministry of Children and Family Development put the investigation to bed after the family waited weeks for a critical diagnosis for their daughter.

Osteogenesis imperfecta

They later found out that she is living with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone syndrome, which causes the bones to break easily.

“Our daughter now has this disease, so that’s not great. Obviously no one wants their child sick. But it also gives us this — ‘Hey, we’re not abusing our child’ — which I was saying the whole time,” Neufeld said.

It turns out the family’s experience isn’t the only one.

Lawyer Kit Perrick says he has a client who’s in a very similar situation. He tells CityNews that family is waiting for a possible brittle bone diagnosis for their child, all while they are under investigation by CPS.

“If it’s child abuse and they don’t have a voice, sure, there has to be some guardrail for the investigating social worker to stand behind to have clear access. But on the other hand, it’s more than just an inconvenience to people to be living under the stigma of being labeled as an abuser,” Perrick explained.

In a statement, the Ministry of Children and Family Development says anyone who believes a child needs protection “has a duty to report their concern,” and can do so confidentially.

But a year and a half after the investigation, Neufeld wishes the pediatricians and other doctors who casted doubt in her daughter’s case would have treated her and her spouse better.

“You can still do your job and be friendly and not show your judgements and what you’re thinking,” she said.

Neufeld says her daughter is going to live a normal life, since her bone condition is relatively mild.