True Story Media

Please note that this show discusses child abuse, which may be difficult for some listeners.

For resources about abusive head trauma, go to shakenbaby.org.

Despite the vast amounts of media attention it's received and the successful state legislative efforts it's inspired,

the problem of Capp's over-diagnosing child abuse is, as far as I can tell from my extensive research entirely invented.

Second opinion laws are put under the ever-popular guise of

protecting children, but it seems more likely that they will create an additional loophole for

parents like most of the ones featured in these stories, i.e. white families who can afford to pay

for high-powered attorneys and experts who explain away abusive injuries.

We really do like to dress things up this way in this country. From banning drag performances,

to banning books, to prohibiting teachers from discussing the existence of gay people in racism,

all things that don't actually harm children. But these things do make some adults really uncomfortable, as does the notion that the

state might remove the children of a middle-class white family. Child abuse pediatricians kidnapping

children is a made-up problem, that the media is treating like a real problem, all while ignoring

the people who are actually disenfranchised by the child welfare system.

Well, not everyone in the media is ignoring it.

I'm Roxanna Asgarian. I am an independent journalist who is focused on the child welfare and criminal legal systems.

I've written for a bunch of outlets, and I am the author of a book called We Were Once a Family. I read Roxanna's book years ago, and it really stuck with me. I've had listeners

recommend this book to me a number of times, and in one instance, someone told me I should read

it and my kicks and boss series, and this revealed something fascinating. The ways in which medical

kidnapping, a conspiracy theory with deep roots in the most extreme version of parents' rights,

is masquerading as a matter of social justice. But reporters like Mike Hicksinbaugh, who superficially

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