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State tries to take infant from mother for feeding him vegan formula

Posted at 11:21 AM, Nov 13, 2014
and last updated 2014-11-13 13:21:08-05

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida mother and her infant are reunited after five months apart.

Sarah Markham lost custody of her son when he was just 12 days old because she refused a doctor’s order to seek medical treatment for the boy.

Doctors said the baby lost 10 percent of his birth weight within his first two weeks of life.

Instead of following the doctor’s orders to go straight to the hospital, she bought the boy vegan formula.

Markham is vegan and believes in a holistic approach to healing.

“I’m just so excited , ecstatic about getting him back,” she said. “This whole thing was a nightmare and I can go back to being a new mom and bonding with him. I am just very happy.”

Baby Caleb has been raised by his grandparents ever since.

“There’s no case, there’s no abuse, there’s no neglect, there’s simply a doctor who has been challenged by a mother and he didn’t like it,” Bo Markham said, the child’s grandfather.

Wednesday, a judge agreed and threw out Seminole County Child Protective Services’ claims that Markham is unfit to care for her son.

Markham said Caleb is now 17 pounds and he is still on the same diet.

“He’s still on a soy formula, he’s been on it, he likes it,” she said. “He’s doing well, he’s growing healthy and I can’t ask for anything more.”