Bellingham parents defend parenting practices as state takes away 3 children

A Bellingham couple said they had their three children ripped from their arms by Child Protective Services because they had a home birth and believe in holistic medicine.

Erica May Carey and Cleave Rengo did have their three children, all under the age of one, taken away, but there may be more to the story.

KING5 spoke with Erica and Cleave.

Some background on their belief systems, the two aren’t married, but say after just hours of knowing each other decided to spend their lives together and said their vows before God. Soon after, they had their first son.

Almost immediately after his birth, Erica was pregnant again.

This time, the couple’s Christian beliefs influenced their decision to have an unassisted home birth. “It was just us, and we wanted to preserve that sanctity and that sacredness in the birth,” Erica told KING 5.

To preserve the sacred space of her womb, Erica said she never got an ultrasound. It wasn’t until immediately after the birth of their second son that the couple realized a twin daughter was on the way.

The young couple now had three children, all under the age of one year. Erica breastfed all three.

Soon after, however, paramedics showed up when someone reported the birth.

“They wanted the authority in my household,” said Cleave. “I told them that I’m a Christian and that God gave me the authority in my household.”

According to Cleave, the paramedics suggested taking the newborn twins to the hospital for a check up, but they refused, worrying about the twins’ health with fragile immune systems among patients fighting disease.

“I was very adimit about not letting my babies leave this house,” said Cleave.

The next day, CPS showed up for the first of several visits.

Officers noticed their 10-month-old had eczema. The couple said they had been treating it with natural remedies like probiotics and coconut oil.

They said CPS pushed them to switch to steroid creams, which the couple refused as well. After that, they say, CPS took all three of their children.

In a petition filed Tuesday, the couple’s attorney calls the seizure “unlawful, unconscionable, and inexcusable.”

Though there were calls to the home about domestic issues prior to the children’s birth, the petition claims no evidence of “clear and present danger,” rather that CPS is trying to impose their standards of “proper parenting.”

Except now, as the petition continues the couple’s oldest son not only has eczema, he is also “suffering from pneumonia” while in state custody.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Home sent the following statement to KING:

Due to confidentiality, we cannot discuss details, except to say that a court determined a child’s safety required removal from the home.

No policy of Children’s Administration would allow a child to be taken due to a home birth. A home birth is not in any way a child safety risk factor in the view of Children’s Administration.