From the May 2002 Idaho Observer:

Good family, CAC, alternative media foil NC baby thieves

CHARLOTTE, NC -- A five-minute custody hearing could have resulted in North Carolina's Department of Social and Health Services removing Shaday Fasinro (2) from her loving family. However, after one and a half years of persecution by the agency that began with unfounded accusations of neglect, Judge Resa Harris commented that she is not able to return children to the custody of their parents as often as she would like. Judge Harris then ordered that full custody of Shaday be returned to her parents.

Had desperation not driven the Fasinros to widely publicize their case, Shaday would likely have been sentenced to foster care. With nowhere else to turn, Shaday's father Yinka wrote an extremely eloquent and sincere description of what all had happened and hit the send button on his computer (The Idaho Observer, April, 2002).

Yinka and his wife Vanessa have lived in Charlotte for several years. They are a loving family with one other child. All was fine in the Fasinro family until a pediatrician decided that nine-month-old Shaday was not gaining weight like formula-fed American kids. Five days after turning one year old, DSS called and demanded to see Shaday.

From that point on there was nothing the Fasinros, who are vegetarians, could do to convince DSS that their daughter was fine and that she was not being neglected. They even took her to a different pediatrician who found her to be in perfect health.

Regardless of Shaday's good health, which was also confirmed by a pediatrician in Oklahoma city, DSS relentlessly persecuted the Fasinros in an effort to remove Shaday from her family.

Anticipating April 19 with fear that DSS was going to take their little girl forever, Yinka and Vanessa made a few desperation moves. Quite accidently, they may have stumbled upon a template for success.

Fearing that April 19 could be the worst day of their lives, the Fasinros contacted Mecklenberg County Commissioner Becky Carney. They told Carney the story and then went in to see her in person. After the meeting the Fasinros left their commissioner with a written chronology of events.

Yinka then wrote a lucid, prayerful and sincere note to the world -- then hit the send button. His story reached Vaccination Liberation, The Idaho Observer, the CAC, Attorney Ed Steele and others who spread the word. Yinka then told his story to shortwave audiences with the help of hosts such as Chris Gerner. Many people who heard the story were moved enough to call and describe their disgust for how DSS had treated this family.

By the time April 19 came around, DSS, the court clerk, Commissioner Carney and Rep. Sue Myrick had received many calls from concerned people all over the nation. A spotlight had been shined on DSS' actions in this case.

When asked what he thought would have happened if he and his wife had not gone public with their story before the April 19 hearing, Yinka said, “I feel in my heart that they would have taken Shaday away from us for good.”

Incidentally, the Fasinros' attorney was against going public. The Charlotte Observer published the story before April 19 even though the attorney asked it to wait until after the hearing.

The Fasinros are grateful to all those across the nation who responded in their time of need and saved their family. They are now working with the CAC and others to pursue certain state agents civilly. The Fasinros would also like to thank Rep. Sue Myrick (704-362-1060) and Comm. Becky Carney (704-336-2086) for all they did to help bring their family back together again.