Gina Hodgkins, 25, shares her real life story
Gina Hodgkins, 25, lay back against her pillow, exhausted but absolutely elated as her mum Pauline lifted her newborn baby boy into her arms.
‘Hello, Teddy,’ she said.
She beamed at me and said: ‘He’s perfect, Gina.’
I’d just given birth and we were all overjoyed with our new arrival. But then Mum’s smile froze.
‘What is it?’ I asked.
She frowned and called over one of the midwives.
‘Is he OK?’ she asked.
‘He looks a bit bruised.’
She pointed out red marks on Teddy’s face, arms and legs.
‘Oh, they’ll soon fade,’ the midwife said. ‘He probably got a bit squashed during the birth.’
Next day, my partner Josh and I took Teddy home. I had a six-year old daughter named Amelia from a previous relationship and she loved helping me look after him.
But after each feed, I struggled to wind him. He had colic and I spent ages with him sitting on my lap, propping his face up with one hand and rubbing his back with the other.
Amelia and Teddy.
Then one morning, as Josh gently lifted him from his cot, I noticed something. There was a mark on each of Teddy’s cheeks. They were a yellowish colour and looked just like bruises.
‘Look, Josh,’ I said. ‘He must have been lying on his dummy.’
I wasn’t worried, but I thought I should bring it up with the nurse at Teddy’s six-week check, which was two days later.
I began showing her the marks and she said: ‘I was going to ask you what they were.’
‘I think he was maybe lying on his dummy,’ I said.
‘I need to make a quick phone call,’ she replied. Then she left the room. What’s going on? I thought.
When she came back, she said: ‘I’ve made you a doctor’s appointment. You should go now.’
I went straight to the surgery and there the GP examined Teddy.
I thought she was just checking he was OK, but then she said: ‘I’ve got to ring the police and social services.’
‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Because it’s my job,’ she replied.
She told me to go home and wait for them. My head was in a spin and I phoned Josh to tell him what was going on. By the time he got home, I was sick with nerves.
‘Why do the police need to see me?’ I said. ‘What on earth is all of this about?’
Just then the doorbell rang. Josh went to answer it and I heard a stern voice say: ‘Where are Gina and Teddy?’
Josh stepped into the room, followed by a police officer.
‘Can I see Teddy’s face, please?’ she said.
Teddy when he was born.
I turned Teddy around and the officer said: ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of actual bodily harm.’
My jaw dropped.
‘What?’ I gasped.
‘You’ve got to come with us,’ the officer said.
I clutched Teddy closer.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ I said. ‘I haven’t done anything wrong!’
Suddenly, the mood changed.
‘If you don’t hand him over right now, we’ll have to force you to,’ the officer said.
Visibly angry, Josh stepped forward.
‘You can’t do this,’ he told her.
But she was totally determined to take Teddy. She told me he needed to be examined at hospital and, eventually, Josh agreed that he and his mum Leigh would take him. My hands were trembling uncontrollably as I strapped Teddy into his car seat on the floor. Then the officer escorted me outside, where six more police officers and two social workers were waiting. I cried all the way to the police station; it was surreal. Then I was put in a cell. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Hadn’t they seen how much I loved Teddy? Couldn’t they tell he was in a loving home? How could they think I’d abused him? I sat in the cell for hours before finally I was interviewed. Officers fired questions at me and I was told that Josh had been arrested, too.
‘Where are my children?’ I asked.
‘What have you done with my babies?’
‘They are both in foster care,’ an officer told me. ‘You can’t see them.’
I put my face in my hands and wept loudly. Eventually, I was released on bail and outside I saw Josh. I threw my arms around him and sobbed, my body shaking.
‘What’s happening?’ I said.
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘They’re treating us like criminals.’
Gina, Josh, Amelia and Teddy.
Back home, I was hysterical. I was desperate to hold my children and tell them everything was going to be OK, but I didn’t even know where they were. All we could do was hire lawyers to fight in our corner. It was two weeks before we were finally allowed to see the kids, and we started supervised visits for an hour every other day. Teddy was often asleep.
‘What if he forgets who I am?’ I said to Josh.
But I didn’t dare to voice the other burning question that occupied my mind. What if we never get them back? The answer was just too terrifying to contemplate. Every night, I lay in bed staring at Teddy’s empty cot. I held his soft blankets to my face, breathing in his scent, willing it not to fade.
During my visits, Amelia asked constantly: ‘When can I come home, Mummy?’
‘When the police find out how Teddy got his bruises,’ I’d reply.
‘But no-one’s ever hurt him,’ she kept saying.
I put on a brave face for her, but when I had to leave, she kicked and screamed and, once I was out of sight, I’d break down.
I fell into a deep depression and I got so low that I told Mum: ‘I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t live without my babies.’
‘You’re going to get them back,’ she reassured me.
But I was sure I had lost them both forever. Two weeks later, I went to the police station and was told our lawyers had managed to get an interim supervision order. It meant Amelia could come home and Teddy would be placed in the care of my sister, Alex.
I was so relieved to have Amelia back, but my heart still ached for my little boy. Then a month after we’d been arrested, I went with Josh and Mum to our first family court hearing. As we stood together talking, Mum had a brainwave.
‘What if Teddy has EDS?’ she said.
Mum explained that Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was a rare hereditary condition that some of our relatives had suffered from. One of the symptoms was having skin that bruised easily.
‘That’s it,’ I said. ‘It has to be that.’
Teddy, happy and healthy.
Our lawyers argued that Teddy and I should be tested for EDS. Teddy had blood tests and we were both examined by a specialist. Then all we could do was wait. Two months later, Josh and I were given permission to go on a trip out of town with Amelia and Teddy, along with my family. While we were away, I received an email from a doctor. It was the all-important results of our genetic testing. I held my breath as I opened the report on the computer. Then I burst into tears.
‘We have it,’ I told everyone. ‘We both have EDS!’
I was upset that Teddy had the condition, but it explained it all. Still, it was another few weeks before a paediatrician’s report confirmed what we already knew. Teddy had skin that bruised easily. His condition explained the red marks at birth and we realised that the bruises on his face were from when I’d held his head up while winding him. A few days later, I was allowed to collect him and bring him home. I picked him up and held him close to me.
‘I love you,’ I whispered.
By now, Teddy was six months old. We’d had nearly five months apart and I didn’t want to ever let him go again. Now Teddy is 19 months old and he’s become so clingy. If I leave the room even for a moment, he gets extremely upset. It’s the same with Amelia, eight, who gets worked up at bedtime. When we say goodnight and leave the room, she thinks we’re leaving her alone forever.
I understand social workers have to do their job, and bruising and injuries in children absolutely must be investigated, but I feel we were treated so badly. I’ll never truly recover from the trauma of having my newborn baby taken from me. Nor will I ever get back those precious months of my son’s first year.
But my children are home, where they belong, and for that I am so very grateful.
