Our Story: How a Misdiagnosis Tore Our Family Apart — and How Dr. Holick Helped Bring Us Back Together
Hello, my name is Holly, and my family was fractured on May 2, 2018. Our second child, our son, was born via emergency forceps delivery after no heart rate could be detected. I hemorrhaged after birth, losing nearly 1,000 units of blood, and suffered a fourth-degree tear from front to back as a result of the traumatic delivery.
From day one, our son struggled with feeding and cried far more than our oldest had. Despite weekly weight checks and multiple wellness visits, no serious concerns were raised. Six different times in the first ten weeks of his life, he was seen down to the diaper and was consistently deemed “perfectly healthy — just slow to gain.”
Our daughter, who was 14 months old at the time, was also seen regularly — at every well check and for even the slightest illness.
At our son’s final weight check, I pointed out his bulging soft spot. The pediatrician finally ordered an ultrasound. The results led to additional imaging, which revealed bilateral subdural hematomas and multiple healing fractures throughout his body. They then demanded our daughter receive X-rays, where they claimed to find “old, healed rib fractures.”
Without any discussion or investigation, we were immediately accused of non-accidental trauma. A safety plan was forced on us. Then, without warning, we were kicked out of the hospital room. We were told we were no longer allowed to be alone with our children.
Four months later, both my partner and I were arrested and spent three weeks in maximum security jail, followed by a no-contact order between us and our children. I went 97 days without any contact with my babies. They were 6.5 months and 19 months old when this began.
The Fight to Prove Our Innocence
From the moment we were accused, I never stopped searching for answers. I had waited my entire life to be their mother, and I knew in my soul that this wasn’t abuse. I was always with them. I knew something had been missed.
I eventually found another family with a story similar to ours — and they told me about Dr. Michael Holick.
I reached out to him, desperate. He responded. And suddenly, my strange health history — and our children’s — started to make sense. We traveled to Boston to see him in person. He diagnosed me and both of our children with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and vitamin D deficiency rickets. He was able to explain every injury in detail — how they happened, why they happened — and trace many of them back to birth trauma, not abuse.
Dr. Holick became the single most credible medical expert in our case — on either side. His testimony was instrumental in winning our first victory in family court. Even then, CPS appealed. For a full year after that, we lived in limbo, waiting for a response from the appeals court.
What We Endured
In the eyes of the system, we were still treated as guilty. We were charged with two counts of felonious assault and two counts of felony child endangerment. What should have been one year of probation turned into five years of intensive probation.
We did everything they asked — house arrest, parenting classes, supervised visits, multiple expert evaluations — and still, it was never enough. Caseworkers lied in court. Detectives twisted the facts. They demanded we admit guilt for something we didn’t do, even after multiple medical experts confirmed our children had metabolic bone disease and EDS — and were not abused.
We ultimately pled to misdemeanor child endangerment — for “failing to recognize injuries” that weren’t even recognized by medical professionals. Yes, you read that right.
Even after winning in family court and again in appeals, they tried to keep our children from us. But eventually, after two excruciating years, our babies — then 2 and 3 years old — finally came home.
The Truth
We were targeted. Blamed. Torn apart.
All because of a rare genetic condition that was missed by medical providers — and a system that would rather punish parents than admit they got it wrong.
Dr. Holick was one of the only experts willing to look deeper, to listen, to follow the science, and to tell the truth. Without him, I believe our children would still be in the system today.
He gave us more than a diagnosis. He gave us our chance to fight back. He gave us hope. And in the end, he helped us bring our children home.
To any parent reading this — don’t give up. Keep fighting. Keep asking questions. And if you’re lucky enough to get Dr. Holick on your side, know that you’ve found someone who not only knows the science, but cares enough to use it to save lives.
