I am both: A mother fighting for her child and an intelligent woman fighting for being understood in her mental health condition. As many other people on earth I am aware of mental health topics and I myself am suffering from a condition called cPTSD, caused by narcissistic abuse.

Unfortunately there is no common understanding by societies organs about these topics, especially not where our family drama took place: In Portugal.

Now our baby daughter Nike is paying the price: She was brutally ripped out of my arms by a policeman, that was instructed by a woman of the local youth service. This happened in July 2023 in the paediatric unit of the hospital in Castelo Branco where I wanted to have her checked because of a fever she had for 3 days. After the examination result that stated that Nike was totally fine and developing normally we were cornered by the youth service and the police and Nike was deported to an orphanage. 

I was not told were she was brought to, I was not given any court declaration, I was left there like a mother without rights. And my child was depraved of her mommy. 

No effort was taken in contacting Nikes father or looking for other relatives. This shows clearly that the primary goal was never to "protect" Nike but to - sorry I have to write it as it is - to steal the baby.

Since then a nerve wrecking fight for my parental rights to protect and care for my child developed between the governmental entities and myself.

I understood quickly that the representatives of the power triangle: Youth Service, Orphanage and Justice System are not playing by fair speak less by democratic rules:

I am facing a final court hearing beginning of march without lawyer or translator.

This week a decision was made that I no longer have the right to any interaction with my child: Reason given: I would not respect the rules of the institution - rules I explicitly asked for being handed out to me in written form months ago! Do I have to mention that my appeal was ignored?

Also ignored were 80% of my weekly Emails, in which I plead the representatives of the institution to better the conditions for my child because on a weekly basis I observed signs of neglect, physical and mental abuse like:

• putrid water in her baby bottle
• brutally jammed thumb recognizable by the vertically broken nail
• fear reactions to certain triggers (opening of a certain door, recognizing her coloured baby doll, laying her on her back for diaper change resulting in stiffing the legs and responding with fear and crying)
• Food leftovers in her hair
• dissociation after being handed over to me on the visiting day
• stomach pain due to tight pants
• signs of physical and sexual abuse
• signs of aggressive behaviour before her first birthday!

A request for excluding a person from the court hearing for bias was ignored.

A person I had reported to the police during pregnancy for trespassing; a person that had tried to force me during pregnancy to hand her over my social security number; a person who as civil servant teacher during fascism and had adopted a child herself - who ran away back to her mother as soon as she turned 15. A person who had thrown lemons against our door and a peck on me and the baby waiting for the bus from the street above. A person who targeted our family since she knew I was pregnant and spread mischief and discord between her father and me. 

My application to have daily physical contact with Nike was turned down after the judge asked the representative of the Orphanage if this was possible and he said no. Both smiling. 

Indeed my daughters physical and psychological health is more at risk at this place than with me - renting a house, working from home, having a structured and organized life. I only need support as every mother does in order to manage the struggle between child and job. 

Also at stake are Nikes physical and psychological integrity and fundamental human rights:

Nikes right to physical integrity

Nikes right to have her family protecting and caring for her.

parental rights

My right to have a lawyer: Two appeals were turned down and only provided in Portuguese - which I do not yet understand on a C1/C2 level after three years.

The fathers right to be regarded and involved

my right to privacy (my mobile phone is hacked and spied on and the information is used to harass me in public and on my workplace) 

Now is the time to act!

The court hearing will be in the third week of march. If we people do not speak up now, further abuse of Nike in the following weeks I am not allowed to visit or call, arbitrariness of representatives of the family court, the orphanage and the youth service will go unobserved, and psychological abuse and suffering of the whole family will peak.

Nike is used to my daily video calls and my Sunday visits. She will not understand why her mommy is no longer "there".  

We demand that the infant Nike Eisenmenger Enwereji be released to her family with immediate effect. 

 

Angela Eisenmenger,

mother of Nike and survivor of narcissistic abuse