Lasha Cauthen, a mother of seven from Ohio, alleges that the majority of her children were taken away after a routine doctor’s visit due to concerns about her lifestyle.
Cauthen took her 10-day-old twins to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in late January for a check-up and to establish a primary care provider. During the visit, she claims the doctor raised issues about her baby’s weight and expressed opinions about her holistic choices.
Speaking about the encounter, Cauthen explained:
“She began speaking with me because I am holistic. I don’t get vaccinations. We don’t vaccinate. We don’t use any modern medications unless necessary.”
According to court documents obtained by WXIX, both twins had lost more than 10 percent of their birth weight. The doctor recommended leaving the children under hospital care, a suggestion Cauthen rejected. In response, the doctor reportedly threatened her with Child Protective Services.
A report was filed with Hamilton County Job and Family Services on the same day. Another concern emerged regarding Cauthen’s refusal of a lactation consult, although she hired a lactation consultant, Wendy McHale, shortly afterwards. McHale verified positive progress with the twins’ weight and informed the caseworker.
Despite this, family services representatives decided to remove the newborns from the household, citing the desire for them to gain more weight and be put on baby formula. Cauthen, who follows a vegan lifestyle, opposed this decision. After hours in the hospital, she was informed that her other children would also be taken.
Expressing her distress, Cauthen said:
“I’m not understanding what is going on. I don’t even understand how they’re legally able to kidnap our children.”
During her hospital stay, Cauthen reached out to a suicide crisis hotline. However, the situation escalated when the operator inquired about her gun ownership. Acknowledging the presence of a weapon in her car, the hospital was placed on lockdown.
Subsequently, Cauthen underwent an extensive mental health evaluation, which she cleared. Months later, she is permitted only supervised visits with six of her children and is determined to continue the fight to regain custody.
Describing the situation, Cauthen stated:
“It’s like human trafficking. 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.”
A GoFundMe has been started on Cauthen’s behalf to raise $10,000 to help her fight Child Protective Services. $1,350 has been raised so far as of the morning of Friday, Dec. 15.
