‘I didn’t get say goodbye to him,’ says Indigenous mother after baby taken by Quebec youth protection

An Indigenous Quebec mother says her newborn was taken from her in the hospital by youth protection services right after the baby was born without any explanation. The woman contacted CityNews and asked that we keep her identity hidden as she fears repercussions – but says something must be done as her story is not uncommon.
“I feel somebody died that day. That’s so bad. It was like I was really hoping he was going to come home to us,” she says, crying.

Prior to giving birth, she was told by youth protection services that there was no reason to worry, her home was safe and that she would be able to take her newborn home. But with her eldest son already in youth protection, she says her case was flagged after routine check-ups social workers came and took away the baby.

“I was crying. I couldn’t think clearly. I didn’t get to say goodbye to him.,” she says.

Indigenous mother holds her newborn’s ultrasound. (Photo credit: Felisha Adam)

Now a month later she and the baby’s father are limited to seeing their son to just an hour every week the supervised visits something they both look forward too, but also something they dread she says in one visit she wanted to take pictures of her son in clothing she had bought and thought nothing of it.

The next day in court, she says social workers told the judge in her case “she woke her son up and changed the clothing and take a picture,” she adds, “we almost don’t want to go because we’re scared to add more negative things not in the file.”

“It’s another excuse after another excuse just to take the child away because they find that Indigenous women can’t raise their kids,” says Vicki Mcdonald, an intervention worker at Resilience Montreal.

In her two years there, she says she has seen the children of most Indigenous clients be taken away.

“It’s not changing. It’s just got a different name. It’s no longer the residential Catholic schools. Now it’s Batshaws, it’s DYP it’s child protection, and it’s Child and Family Services. Just got a new name,” she says.

Indigenous children in foster care. (Photo credit : Felisha Adam)

In Canada, 53.8% of children in foster care are Indigenous, but account for only 7.7% of youth under the age of 14 according to Census 2021.

As she looks at the ultrasounds of her newborn, the Indigenous mother says, “I always wanted to be a mom. That was just my dream. I was very happy. I was happy for my older son that he’s going to have a baby brother,” now she says that dream may never come true.

As we stand in the nursery created then with hope that both of her sons would come home, she says she’s unable to change anything, holding out hope that one day she will be able to raise her children.

She says she often thinks, “maybe he’s coming back next week or next month or so. I didn’t want to touch his hospital bag and to me would be too emotional, and I’m still not ready.”
She says her story is common and hopes she can be a voice to empower others to come forward.

“There are a lot of other women going through this, and they are afraid to speak up for themselves, or they want to share their story, or they don’t know how to start, or they’re just not confident enough to go out there, so I wanted to speak up for a lot of other women”