Hi Everyone,

My family is facing an emergency and are in dire need of your help.

MY FAMILY’S BACKGROUND


My name is Wilairat Yotrungruang-Hernandez, a US citizen originally from Thailand. I have been married to Matthew Hernandez since 2012, and we have two children. We live in Georgia USA. My husband and I have tried for several years to have children, and finally in January 2020 our oldest daughter, Arya, was born. She is a healthy and happy little girl who enjoys dancing and swimming. After much prayer for more children, God blessed our family with another girl, Emma. She was born March 2023. She is a sweet little baby girl, and so easy to care for.

   My husband and I want to have more children. I come from the large family, with three sisters and one brother. My mother has five siblings, and my father has 10 siblings. In Thailand my family lives in a small town surrounded by many friends and family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and cousins.

  After I graduated from Ramkhumhang University, I worked as a guest service agent at a Hilton Hotel. I also volunteered in a daycare center, and was trained to become an au pair (live in nanny). When I came to the United States I took care of children for host families before I met my husband.

     After seven years of marriage, we finally have our own children, Arya and Emma, who are the first and only grandchildren from both sides of our family. We are so blessed, and very excited to share the love of our family with their grandparents. We call the children’s grandparents quite often, and send pictures and videos. We have a lot of activities for our girls to ensure they will have happy childhood memories.

THE NIGHTMARE WE ARE LIVING NOW
        Our happy family’s nightmare began when Emma was almost 3 months old.

On June 6, 2023, my husband and I had our two daughters Arya and Emma taken from us at the Children’s Hospital by the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). We took Emma to The Hospital after noticing she had unexplained swelling on one of her legs, a leg which she never experienced any pain. Images were taken of Emma’s leg and rib cage and it was determined she had a fractured leg and cracked left ribs.  However, a report later stated that Emma had healing fractures on her left ribs. When the doctors examined Emma, she did not show any signs of discomfort when her leg and ribs were examined. Additional tests were performed, including blood work; however, we were not told at the time of the hospital visit of any results from these additional tests. At the hospital, our daughter, Arya, was also examined by this hospital physicians and no indications of abuse were found. Within two hours, the doctors determined the cause of Emma’s fractures was likely the result of abuse without any further investigations and DFCS was called. That night my husband and I had to sign papers giving custody of our girls to the state This resulted in DFCS removing both Emma and Arya from us at the hospital. Our two children were then placed in the custody of the children’s aunt and uncle (my sister and her husband).

   On June 22, 2023 I was shocked when I was accused of abuse of my three-month-old daughter, Emma, and subsequently arrested and incarcerated. I have since bonded out of jail, but I am not allowed to go to my home, or see my children or my husband because of my bond conditions. This seems to be in violation of my basic rights as a US citizen. This situation is tearing me and Matthew apart, and causing extreme stress for both of our children. Especially my baby Emma who was 100% breastfeeding prior to all this.

   On July 10, 2023 the children’s aunt discovered what appeared to be a rash or bruising on Emma’s right leg and the bottom of her foot. DFCS was called and the aunt and uncle were told to take Emma back to The Children’s Hospital . At this time the doctors again said Emma had been abused and removed my two daughters from my sister and her husband and they were then placed in the care of foster parents, who are total strangers to Emma and Arya. Both girls are frightened and not understanding why they cannot be with their parents.

   The ongoing court hearings to determine the fate of our daughters has left us in shock. DFCS has changed their decision of reunification to non-reunification, and not giving any reasons for this. We had two expert witnesses during the adjudication hearing. A forensic pathologist testified Emma’s documented vitamin D deficiency could be the cause of her present condition, and a geneticist determined Emma is suffering from neonatal rickets (hyperchloremic acidosis) which can cause the small fractures that showed up in the x-rays at The hospital on June 6, 2023. This seems to point in the direction of the cause of Emma’s problems and not abuse. However, during the adjudication hearing this testimony was discounted.

    We are currently asking the court to allow Emma to be genetically test for a wide range of hereditary diseases that includes Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), osteogenesis imperfecta, and neonatal rickets, These disorders can cause the problems Emma is experiencing. EDS can cause bone fractures and bruising on babies. There are several cases in the US where parents charged with child abuse have had these charges dropped when it was determined their babies had EDS.

    I miss my daughters so much and pray every night for God to protect them, keep them safe and bring them back home to us soon. We need all the help we can get to fight this.

Our girls are our lives and we love them more than anything.  



    My husband and I are overwhelmed dealing with the stress this has caused us, and added to this is the financial burden we are facing. We need to raise money to pay our attorneys, pay the court system, we need more expert witnesses, we need to run our own laboratory tests, pay for the transcripts of documents, and all classes that DFCS requires, to name a few. All of this is an enormous financial burden for us.

We ask that you please help us in any way you can so we can get our girls back home and bring justice for my family.



Thank you, and God bless,

Wilairat Hernandez