Hospital Retaliates For Home Birth By Calling CPS & Then Forced HIV Medicine For Newborn
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Dear Larry,
I’m writing to you with a story that has shaken me to the core; not just because of what happened to us, but because I now understand just how vulnerable parents are when we choose a path that challenges institutional norms.
My wife and I chose a homebirth for our son because we believe birth is sacred. We wanted to welcome our child into the world in an environment filled with peace, warmth, and autonomy — not fluorescent lights, hospital monitors, or rushed protocols. Our son was born safely and beautifully at home, surrounded by calm, intention, and love.
It was, in every way, the birth we had hoped for.
About 30 minutes after delivery, we noticed the placenta hadn’t yet detached. We weren’t panicked — we were informed and prepared — but we decided to transfer to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. We drove there ourselves. My wife was treated, blood was drawn, and we were discharged shortly afterward. Everything seemed routine.
That illusion shattered just two hours later, when we received a call from Child Protective Services. Then, we called the hospital to get the test results: my wife had tested HIV Reactive on the rapid HIV test.
We returned voluntarily to the hospital under the guise that we were only coming in seeking clarity and confirmatory testing. Instead of support, we were met with force and coercion. We were told the rapid test had a 99.7% accuracy, this is inaccurate and incomplete information. With extremely low risk groups and immune disorders the likelihood of false positives is up to 60%.
We were told our newborn would be given antiretroviral drugs, “by force or by choice.” When we asked for time, information, or to wait for confirmatory testing, we were denied. When we attempted to leave, armed guards met us from two separate hallways blocking us in the NICU unit.
We were detained, held in a hospital room against our will, and told that if we didn’t comply; our baby would be taken from us.
No confirmatory tests had come back. No emergency had been declared. Yet my wife; hours postpartum, was forced to sleep on a surface unfit for recovery — physically exhausted and emotionally broken. Since that night, she hasn’t been the same. She flinches at every sound, afraid someone will come take our baby again, and waking up with nightmares.
CPS visited us twice at the hospital and once at our home. Thankfully, the social workers were kind and quickly saw the truth — that we are loving, informed, responsible parents who never refused care… we only asked that treatment be based on confirmed diagnosis and informed consent.
They repeatedly told us what the doctor was doing was unlawful.
We were finally discharged, but only after agreeing to obtain the medication — and show it to him, which wasn’t even available locally. The doctor initially refused to let us pick it up from another location. After relentless pressure, he relented, and my mother drove hours to retrieve it just so we could go home.
Two days after returning home, my wife’s confirmatory HIV test came back negative, as we always knew it was.
And yet by then, we had already been forced — under threat, under surveillance, under emotional blackmail — to give our newborn multiple doses of antiretroviral drugs without a confirmed diagnosis.
Looking back, I can’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t about safety — it was about punishment. We were targeted for choosing a homebirth. Treated with suspicion, stripped of our rights, and coerced into medical compliance through fear. The hospital’s role wasn’t to help us — it was to control us.
We’re now pursuing legal action — not out of vengeance, but because this must never happen again. Not to another mother. Not to another child. Not to another family that chooses birth on their own terms.
To help with the overwhelming legal and recovery costs, we’ve launched a GoFundMe:
The funds will be used to:
- Retain legal counsel (we are close to securing an attorney now) the first $5000 goes towards a retainer for the lawyer.
- Cover lost income due to time off work
- Support mental health recovery for our family, especially for my wife.
With respect and determination,
Jeffrey Branson Draper
(336) 995-0521
North Carolina
