Michael and Tasha Patterson believed they were taking their newborn twins for a doctor’s visit. But what was supposed to be a normal check-up turned into a legal nightmare.
Now, they are locked in a battle with the State of Florida for custody of their kids.
As a nurse practitioner, Tasha knew early on that something wasn’t right with her twins, Malachi and Micah. Both were born prematurely by C-section, at 34 weeks into her pregnancy. The twins were admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and were later discharged.
However, they still exhibited serious health issues. “I brought them to the doctor every time something didn’t seem right,” Tasha told Townhall. “There’s literally a record of the appointments that we had taken them to.”
The parents‘ ordeal began when they took Malachi and Micah to the hospital again in October 2022. During this appointment, the medical professionals discovered several injuries, including rib fractures and a liver laceration.
At this point, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) informed the parents that it was taking custody of the twins. They had determined that the parents had caused the injuries by abusing their children. Nearly three years later, the Pattersons are still fighting for their children.
The authorities not only took the twins, but also Michael’s eight-year-old son MJ, who had been living with the couple full time.
Tasha later discovered that she had hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder. Infants who suffer from this condition experience easy bruising, fragile skin, and spontaneous fractures. After seeing multiple medical experts, they confirmed what she already knew: Her children had inherited this condition.
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Dr. Michael Holick, a world-renowned expert in metabolic bone disorders and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, examined Tasha.
“He had me come up there and he examined me. He reviewed the medical record… Based on that report… the judge was okay with having the twins travel up to Boston and be examined as well. He concluded that it was most likely the twins inherited this condition from me… which it affects bones, blood vessels, cartilage, muscles, everything,” she said.
Tasha also explained that the couple “also had another doctor just do a review of the record and everything, and he concluded, just, based on what he reviewed, that the twins also had evidence of metabolic bone disease.”
“In other words, their bones were fragile,” she added.
Armed with this new information, the couple sought to prove that they did not abuse their children. Unfortunately, Judge Stacey Schulman refused to allow them to present this evidence during court proceedings.
“She didn’t allow us to bring in everything that we had. She only allowed us to bring in limited evidence… So even when it was brought up that we had other doctors saying the same thing. She said no,” Tasha recalled.
The Pattersons filed for another hearing and requested that the judge recuse herself because she had served on the board of the hospital that made the false child abuse claims and had refused to allow evidence during the proceedings.
Another critical issue was the fact that the twins continued sustaining injuries even after the state took custody of them — a clear sign showing that they had a bone condition.
The twins even continued having injuries after they were taken away from us… one of the injuries dating to the week that they were already admitted to the hospital. They weren’t in our care, they weren’t in family care… they all ignored it.
Other renowned medical experts, including Dr. Eli Newberger and Dr. Marvin Miller, came to the same conclusion: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Metabolic Bone Disease, not abuse. Nevertheless, DCF denied them after two appeals.
She continued: “We didn’t even get a court hearing for these further denials that we received.”
Both DCF and the court system continued to ignore reports that would have vindicated the Pattersons.
The children are currently in the custody of a family member. DCF is trying to finalize adoption proceedings while targeting the Pattersons. “They’re still trying to pursue an adoption of my children and pursue criminal charges against me for something that I didn’t do,” she said.
Two years ago, the authorities filed child neglect charges against the Pattersons, but have not yet pursued prosecution.
The parents get weekly supervised visits with their children. Still, the situation has taken a devastating toll on the Pattersons and their kids.
My twins are toddlers now. They know who we are, but they don’t understand why they can’t leave with us… I go outside and I hear my babies from the other side of the door crying because I left, and they don’t know why they couldn’t come with me.
MJ, being older, asks questions that have no easy answers. “He would ask me the hard questions,” Tasha said. “And one of the harder questions is, ‘Tasha, when is this going to stop?”
“And the only thing I can tell him is, I promise I’m doing everything I can for all three of you to be together,” she explained.
This situation motivated the Pattersons to help other parents who find themselves in the same predicament. They pushed for a law that would empower parents the right to seek a second medical opinion in child abuse cases.
Michael and Tasha, along with other parents, testified before the state legislature to support the measure, known as “Patterson’s Law.” The bill passed in the state Senate—but never made it to a vote in the House.
Michael & Tasha Patterson, whose children were seized by the state of Florida over false allegations of child abuse, testified before the state legislature to support Patterson's Law. pic.twitter.com/9bv1uDtr75
— Jeff Charles, The Nullifier🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) May 30, 2025
“It was awesome to finally speak my truth, but also heartbreaking that we were right at the finish line and it just never fully crossed over,” she said.
Still, the Pattersons have not given up. They plan to push for the law during the next legislative session.
Meanwhile, the couple is still fighting to regain custody of their children as the state tries its best to ignore them. They have set up a GoFundMe page to support their ongoing efforts.
With the help of advocacy organizations, You Are the Power and Wings to Freedom, the parents hope to eventually win this battle.
"Imagine having to fight for 3 years to get your children back, even after just about everyone involved has acknowledged that they never should've been taken from you in the first place,” said Spike Cohen, founder of You Are the Power. “That's the nightmare the Pattersons are being put through, and unfortunately, they're far from the only ones being put through this kind of nonsense.”
While the Pattersons have exhausted their appeals, they are still hopeful that DFC will do the right thing. “They can actually say, ‘okay, you know what? Let’s work out other options for this family.’ But instead, right now, what’s happening is that we’re being ignored, and that’s the wrong thing.”
“Just do the right thing and take accountability for your mess up instead of dragging this case on longer and longer,” Tasha added.
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