This couple lost custody of their kids because they have “limited cognitive abilities”

A couple is fighting a legal battle after they lost custody of their children due to their “limited cognitive abilities”.

Amy Fabbrini, 31, and Eric Ziegler, 38, have been trying to probe to the state of Oregon for nearly four years that they are intelectually capable of raising their kids, according to the Independent. The state’s Department of Human Services removed the couple’s eldest son, Cristopher, shortly after his birth, because his parents had “limited cognitive abilities that interfere with [their] ability to safely parent the child,” as the Oregonian reports. Five months ago, they took their second son, Hunter, directly from hospital after he was born.

Family members alerted the authorities when Fabbrini brought Cristoper to her father’s home, where she was looking after her 6-year-old twins from a previous marriage as well. “She doesn’t have the instincts to be a mother. Me and Amy were never close. She got me mad so many times. She wouldn’t do nothing,” Fabbrini’s father, Raymond Fabbrini, told the Oregonian.

Psychological tests revealed Fabbrini had an IQ of 72, placing her at the “extremely low to borderline range of intelligence”, while Ziegler had an IQ of 66, putting him in the category of “mild range of intellectual disability”. The average IQ is between 90 and 110. Child welfare records accused Ziegler of “sleeping with the baby on the floor and [having] almost rolled over on him”. The records described him as “easily frustrated” and said he “often forgets to feed his dog.”

“They’re saying that this foster care provider is better for the child because she can provide more financially, provide better education, things like that,” an advocator for the couple, Sherrene Hagenbach, said. “If we’re going to get on that train, Bill Gates should take my children. There’s always somebody better than us, so it’s a very dangerous position to be in.” Hagenbach started an online petition which has more than 1,600 supporters, which has the purpose of returning Cristopher and Hunter to their parents.

“I quickly discovered that this family had no problem at all taking care of their son,” Hagenbach noted. “They showed loving attention, were attentive to his needs, and at this point had been fighting faithfully in court for almost three years to prove to CPS that they were capable and loving parents. In my professional opinion, after multiple sessions observing Amy and Eric interact with their son for hours on end, I found no reason they should have had their child taken from them and placed in the State’s care. The couple demonstrated competent parenting skills with Christopher, had no history of abuse or neglect, and expressed a deep desire to have Christopher returned to them to raise him along with the mother’s twin boys.”

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