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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShe Went on a PR Tour for Her Sick, Adopted African Child. Was It All a Lie?
Last summer, Sophie Hartman was fixated on her 6-year-old adopted daughter Carmel possibly showing signs of early puberty.
The 31-year-old single mom from Renton, Washington, scheduled an appointment at Seattle Childrens Hospital with a pediatric endocrinologist, a doctor specializing in glands and the hormones they produce, according to a Renton Police probable-cause affidavit.
Hartman, a white, Jesus-loving former missionary, strapped Carmela little Black girl born in Zambiainto a wheelchair and rolled her into a medical room, where they met with the endocrinologist. Carmel was a very handicapped child who was showing cyclical symptoms such as a discharge in her underwear, Hartman told the doctor. The symptoms were occurring for four straight days around the same time every month, she added.
Carmel went through a battery of medical exams, including blood work and X-ray imaging. The doctor found modest clinical findings of early puberty, but not enough to confirm Carmel was indeed accelerating into womanhood. During a follow-up appointment at Seattle Childrens in October, another endocrinologist ran more tests on Carmel. The doctor found no signs of active puberty in the child, but informed Hartman about two treatments used to suppress pubescence. One involved giving Carmel injections; the other option was more drastic, requiring surgically lacerating Carmels skin with a scalpel to insert an implant used to suppress early puberty.
The same day, Washingtons Department of Child, Youth, and Families placed Carmel and her older sister, Miah, whom Hartman also adopted, into protective custody. Hartmans quest to stifle Carmels alleged early puberty is just one of several bizarre episodes documented in a probable-cause affidavit that led King County prosecutors to charge Hartman last month with two second-degree felony counts: assault on a child and attempted assault on a child.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sophie-hartman-went-on-a-pr-tour-for-her-sick-adopted-african-child-but-was-it-all
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I put this here because I didn't know where else to put it. It's a sickening story but it highlights a couple of things---one, the abuse of adopted children, especially those from foreign countries, often by evangelicals who have twisted reasons for adopting them, and two, the prevalence of what used to be called Munchausen by Proxy but now has another name which I forget. I saw a couple of possible examples during the brief time I worked Peds, also one unforgettable case of full-blown "regular" Munchausen which was seriously awful.
leftieNanner
(15,149 posts)But the link is "404". Unavailable.
dalton99a
(81,578 posts)blogslug
(38,016 posts)Jilly_in_VA
(9,995 posts)I must have not got it all in the header.
Jilly_in_VA
(9,995 posts)that abuse of kids adopted from foreign countries is not that uncommon. One of my mom's caregivers was a young (and I mean young--she turned 21 while she was taking care of Mom!) woman who had been adopted from Belarus as a young child. She would not talk about her adoptive parents except to say they were "not good" to her, but she had the hallmarks of trauma. Nonetheless, she was one of those kids with a resilient personality who somehow made it through. She ran away from her adoptive parents when she was 15. I don't know exactly what happened to her between 15 and 18; I think a combination of foster homes and life on the streets, but somehow she managed to get a GED and a CNA license and when she was caring for my mom she was also starting classes at the local community college. We considered her family. My brother is still in touch with her, I think. She had somehow managed to find relatives in Belarus and a brother in Michigan and when last I heard she was living there.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)this is most certainly the sad case.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)for Munchausen by Proxy.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)meadowlander
(4,402 posts)The new name for Munchausen by proxy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder_imposed_on_another
meadowlander
(4,402 posts)"A Washington State mom who had her adopted daughter placed in leg braces and sent into surgery to be implanted with feeding and other tubes -- among at least 474 medical appointments since 2016 -- now stands accused of the girl's assault and attempted assault".
474 medical appointments in 5 years is an appointment at least every two weeks.
3catwoman3
(24,045 posts)...that certainly raised suspicion of Munchhausen/Factitious Disorder (I learned something new today about the current preferred name).
I tried hard, during my years on the job, not to make snap judgments about people, but sometimes, when you're right, you're right.
A few years ago, I saw a family that was new to us on their very first visit. The mom had 3 kids - 2 sons, 1 daughter. The daughter was the youngest, and she was the one I was seeing. While taking the family health history, the mom related a long list of complicated and rare autoimmune disorders that her sons had, and then went on to say that the daughter, who was only 6, had been diagnosed as bipolar and ADHD, among other things.
Then mom seemed to relish talking about all the diagnoses, and was fairly dramatic/flamboyant. Munchhausen-by-proxy came to my mind about 10 minutes into our encounter.
At the conclusion of the visit, I advised the mom that the complexity of her children's problems was definitely outside my expertise as an NP and that it would be better for her to schedule future visits with one of my 9 physician colleagues.
The last time I saw the daughter, the story told by the mom was flat out bizarre. It was a Monday. The mom had spoken to one of my colleagues on Saturday evening, claiming that the child was having vaginal bleeding because one of her brothers has inserted the nozzle of an air hose into his sister's vagina while the family was putting away their boat - "There was stuff coming out of her that looked like brains!" The mom did not follow my colleague's recommendation to take the child to the ER.
I examined the child thoroughly, especially her bottom, and there was NOTHING - no bruise, no abrasion, no laceration, no tenderness. Absolutely nothing. It would not be possible for there to have been the amount of trauma the mom alleged and there be no sign of it a mere 36 hours later. The mom wanted to know if she should be worried about the little girl's virginity. There was no way I was going to subject this child to a pediatric GYN exam.
I was pretty damn sure my initial impression in those first 10 minutes was right on the money.
Jilly_in_VA
(9,995 posts)I think I might have called CPS on that one.
Jilly_in_VA
(9,995 posts)That was a similar story, although she wasn't adopted. She grew up to turn on her mother and murder her. I have nothing but sympathy for that woman.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)Hope those kids are thriving in Foster Care and never go back to crazy lady.
Mom's lining herself up to be a professional martyr.