2016-11-04



Theirs was a spiritual journey of getting back to nature and rejecting the materialism that they felt held them in bondage. Christian and Danielle Holm began their journey together in early 2016 as itinerant missionaries, traveling across the country and speaking to churches as they sought to live simply and biblically.

The last thing that they expected was for Child Protective Services to seize their 1 day old baby literally off of his mother’s breast in an Alabama hospital. What started out as an apparent case of mistaken identity has turned into a nightmare that the family cannot wake up from. They don’t understand why their baby was taken from them, or why he still remains in state custody in foster care while social workers continue to challenge their religious beliefs.

According to a close family friend who contacted Health Impact News, the couple are grieving.

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The most sacred thing to Danielle and Christian is the bond of male and female coming together and giving life with God. This bonding process in the beginning of a baby’s life has been stolen from them.

There was never any reason for their baby to be taken from them to begin with, and even now, they have adequate housing and anything else that could ever be needed and they still don’t have their baby back.

Story Reported in Local Media

The Anniston Star first reported their story on October 13, 2016, just days after the couple’s baby was born on Monday, October 10. Excerpt:

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Just out of Regional Medical Center, Danielle has a belly still swollen from a pregnancy that ended Monday with the birth of a healthy baby boy.

Her arms, however, are empty. Her son was taken from her the day after he was born and is in the custody of the Cleburne County Department of Human Resources pending a hearing at Cleburne County Courthouse this morning.

“We told them that we were going to do whatever we could,” she said as tears ran down her face. “I’m his mother. I’m supposed to be nourishing and bonding with him right now and I can’t.”

Judge Issues Gag Order, Family Friend Contacts Health Impact News

Shortly after the story was reported, District Judge Melody Walker of the Cleburne County Circuit Court issued a gag order on the couple, forbidding them to speak about their case.

Since that time, Health Impact News was contacted by a close family friend who talked to us about the couple and their story. The source, who asked not to be named, made it clear that the information that she gave us was from conversations which occurred before the gag order was placed on Danielle and Christian Holm.

She communicated that the Holms want to cooperate with DHR to do everything that they can to get their baby back. They are heartbroken, and they are scared. The source is concerned that the couple may have unwittingly stumbled into a great deal of corruption, and their baby could be an innocent victim of some sort of trafficking ring.

Couple Chooses to Leave Materialism Behind, Pursue Spirituality

Though their simple lifestyle of hiking and backpacking through state parks may suggest otherwise, the Holms come from a background of means and education. 32 year old Danielle holds a triple bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, and biology. She has worked as a nurse, chiropractic assistant, child and adolescent mental health counselor, personal trainer, and was a group leader for Special Needs children at a youth center. Her husband Christian, 35, comes from a very well-off, politically connected family. He spent several years caring for his ailing grandparents before their deaths.

They met and fell in love after finding common ground online. They decided to make a life together in August of 2015 and moved to New Hampshire together. Both increasingly felt that possessions and materialism were holding them in bondage. After they married in February, they made the conscious decision to give away their possessions to charity and live simply, traveling as itinerant missionaries and getting closer to nature.

Simple Lifestyle Conflicts with Standard Protocols

The couple wished to adhere to their religious beliefs and remain as natural as possible, declining any unnecessary hospital interventions. They agreed to allow eye ointment in their baby’s eyes, but declined the other typical interventions, including the hospital security band on the baby’s leg. They reasoned that, since there was never a need for the baby to be out of his parents’ sight while he was at the hospital, there was no need for the hospital security band. Danielle chose to breastfeed her baby.

The couple were able to bask briefly in the beauty of their new son, but their joy was short-lived.



The source close to the family reports that Danielle and Christian sensed that the hospital staff got a bit nervous when the parents declined a birth certificate and social security number for their baby.

There were 2 reasons for their declining the documents. Christian and Danielle felt that the naming of their baby is a spiritual experience. They wanted to wait to decide on a name for their baby until they first had time to bond with and get to know their baby to see what name would be the most appropriate. They also believed that the decision as to whether or not to have a social security number was one that should be left up to the child to make when he is older.

Because they sensed that the hospital staff was uncomfortable with their philosophy, which is rooted in their spiritual beliefs, the family friend states that Christian pro-actively decided to approach the hospital social worker “on his own terms,” to ensure that there were no issues and that they would be in compliance with applicable laws.

Instead of answering, the social worker reportedly left to seek more information. A short time later, she returned to their room with an intern from DHR, the Department of Human Resources, Alabama’s Child Protective Services. The DHR representative reportedly questioned the couple about their religious beliefs. The Holms reportedly stated that they wanted to “live as close to nature as possible, just like their native American ancestors.”

When Christian asked, “What is the most simple way we can live without being harassed?” the DHR worker reportedly told him she had never been asked that before, and that she would consult her supervisor.

Baby Snatched from Mother’s Nursing Breast



The family friend explained that Christian has a house in his name, but it is currently tied up in a family trust. Despite their journey of walking through nature, camping wherever they found themselves, the couple has been in process of trying to move into the house, but there have been complications, causing those plans to fall through. The friend reported that Christian had hoped to discuss this with the social worker, but he did not get the opportunity, because the hospital social worker and the DHR intern returned to the hospital room with 4 police officers, a detective from the sheriff’s department, and a hospital security guard.

After Christian was escorted to another room, Danielle was shocked when the sheriff’s detective allegedly reached down and pulled the baby literally off of his mother’s breast where he was latched on.

As she cried out, asking, “Why?” and telling them she has done nothing wrong, the detective told her that they had reason to believe that they were not who they said they were. He reportedly told her that the baby was now in state custody.

Read the Full Story at MedicalKidnap.com.

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