Oliver Anderson has experienced a myriad of serious health problems since the day he was born. His mother, Kristy Anderson, tried everything possible to ensure that he could thrive.
Unfortunately, her efforts led to the removal of all her children and a devastating legal battle to regain her parental rights.
Oliver was born early, at 36 weeks, in August 2022. He weighed under seven pounds and was having trouble gaining weight.
The child’s early months were marked by frequent hospitalizations and medical interventions. She took Oliver to Boston Children’s Hospital in November 2022, where Dr. Suzanna Hirsch examined him. “After about a month or so of her following him and his weight, she wasn’t really happy with his weight,” Kristy told Townhall. “She admitted him for a nasal gastric tube.”
This was followed by gastrostomy tube surgery, which involves inserting a tube directly into the stomach to deliver nutrition, fluids, or medications when a child is unable to eat enough food by mouth. The child experienced reflux, diarrhea, and repeated infections, including COVID three times. By January 2024, he was admitted to Boston Children's Hospital for acute weight loss, blood in his stools, and fever.
In February of the same year, doctors performed several procedures to investigate the source of his bleeding and intestinal inflammation. The entire process took about four hours.
The battery of procedures resulted in more health complications for Oliver. "His face was so swollen. His lips were all cracked. He didn't look like himself. He was not really rousing," said Kristy, who has worked as a medical assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital for seven years.
An MRI revealed that Oliver had suffered several strokes.
At this time, doctors found a blood clot in Oliver’s stool, the first of many. Kristy explained that the child’s “whole body became septic because of this blood clot.” He required antibiotics, multiple blood transfusions, and nutrition. He still had trouble eating and gaining weight.
Kristy and Oliver Anderson
To make matters worse, Oliver developed bloodstream infections in February 2024 and required Lovenox, a blood thinner. Kristy recalled that doctors continually drew blood from the child — far beyond the limits for his weight. “They were well over the limit, they just kept taking and taking and taking,” she explained. “There’s actually a cutoff that you’re supposed to stop at for babies when they’re a certain weight. They didn’t respect that.”
Despite this, on May 9, 2024, they discovered a third blood clot in his right brachial vein and restarted Lovenox to prevent further clotting. Kristy expressed surprise at the initial delay in stopping the treatment, saying, "It took them that long to stop it, even though they had first realized that this could have been causing the issue?”
Kristy began to feel frustrated by the process. “We have no answers for any problems that we came in for. Instead, we have additional problems,” she said.
After months of unresolved issues, Kristy asked for a transfer to Massachusetts General Hospital on June 4. That afternoon, she was called into a meeting and informed that a 24-hour sitter would be present with Oliver while he received care at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Kristy Anderson with her newborn son.
The mother was initially led to believe the sitter was there to monitor Oliver’s progress. She soon found out that this individual was there to watch her.
A few days later, Kristy’s father threatened legal action against the hospital. On June 10, Kristy was informed that one of the doctors who had first examined Oliver reported her to the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
"They told me that they were going to file a 51A. I asked what it was, and they said it was because we couldn't figure out what was going on with Oliver," Kristy said.
Kristy was in Oliver’s room on June 26, 2024, when she received an urgent text message from her mother, who had been trying to call her. “Dammit, Kris, answer your phone…they’re coming to take your kids,” the message read.
Kristy immediately dialed her mother, who confirmed that DCF was en route to remove her other children, who were aged three and 11 at the time. "At this point, I become hysterical and I'm trying to control my emotions, but I just found out they’re taking my kids away from me," she recalled.
She climbed into the crib with Oliver and held him until the DCF officer arrived, at which point she was escorted out of the hospital by security. The removal left Kristy with no immediate information or contact information.
DCF only gave Kristy five minutes at her parents’ house to hug and kiss her remaining children goodbye. Over the next two weeks, DCF was completely silent. "Nobody was telling me anything. I knew absolutely nothing," Kristy recalled.
The hospital alleged that Kristy was experiencing “fictitous disorder,” which is also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. People with this condition deliberately harm their children or others while pretending they are experiencing serious illnesses.
"Those words were never mentioned in the beginning. But as I talked to the social worker and things like that, that's what they were trying to get me for, is Munchhausen by proxy." This led to a court-ordered psych evaluation, which she described as extensive and taking about five months. This led to a 72-hour hearing where the court ruled that the children would remain in DCF’s care.
"I did have a court clinic psych evaluation and it came back in my favor, saying that I don't fit the mold for fictitious disorder, but that's not good enough for them,” Kristy said.
Oliver was placed with his grandparents in November 2024 after being in foster care for about five months before being allowed to live with his grandparents. Kristy’s other two children were also placed with the grandparents. However, DCF allowed Kristy to regain custody of her older kids in August.
Neither DCF nor hospital staff ever provided evidence that Kristy harmed Oliver. In fact, they could not even explain how she would have accomplished this in the first place, given that the child was under constant medical care. Police declined to charge her with a crime due to a lack of evidence.
Kristy has appealed the allegations, but DCF is still seeking to terminate her parental rights over Oliver. As it stands currently, she is able to see Oliver for two hours per week. No trial date has yet been set. But the mother remains adamant about getting her child back.
“Boston Children's Hospital needs to be exposed for this, for what they're doing…so this doesn't happen to other families,” she said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the legal expenses.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member