Authorities nearly took away a Florida couple’s baby Sunday after her birthmarks were mistaken for bruises, the child’s parents say.
Loi Tran and his wife were shocked when a sheriff and an official from Child Protective Services (CPS) arrived on their doorstep in response to allegations of child abuse, WPBF reported.
The incident stemmed from a church daycare volunteer mistaking the nine-month-old child’s distinctive birthmarks, known as Mongolian spots, for bruises, according to the outlet.
The couple told the officers their daughter’s Mongolian spots are birthmarks common among babies of Asian descent. These spots, typically found on the buttocks or back, are flat bluish-green or light brown marks that naturally fade over time, according to the outlet.
“They are definitely Mongolian spots because of the characteristics of the irregular borderline and also the area of the body that it’s located,” nurse practitioner Elizabeth Ofori-Attah told WPBF after seeing pictures of the child’s birthmarks.
While the sheriff’s office promptly dismissed the abuse allegations, the Department of Children and Families’ (DCF) protocol necessitated further scrutiny, according to WPBF.
“[The DCF agent] had to take pictures of all my other daughters and find and make sure we had running water; our fridge has food, make sure. She wanted to see the room. My daughter had just been put to sleep, and my wife had to wake her up because she needed to see my daughter,” Tran told the outlet.
Tran called the experience “horrifying,” knowing that “somebody could just take your kid away that day if something went wrong, like if I forgot to clean my house or had I forgotten to stock my fridge up.” (RELATED: Video Allegedly Shows Woman Posing As CPS Worker Attempting To Abduct 4-Year-Old)
The couple’s anxiety reportedly lingers as they await formal clearance from DCF.