Jeri Lynn Coffman’s Story

I never imagined that the happiest chapter of my life, becoming a mother, would turn into one of the most painful battles I’ve ever fought. My name is Jeri Lynn Coffman, and I am a deaf single mother who dreamed of giving a child a loving home. After years of saving and praying, I adopted my son from China. He was deaf, just like me, and I believed we were meant for each other.

For three and a half years, I poured everything into loving and raising him. But what many people didn’t see was the struggle behind closed doors. My son suffers from severe Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD): a condition that causes children to resist bonding and sometimes act out in dangerous ways. He often refused to eat, became violent daily, and even harmed my dog, damaged my home, and once tried to attack me with a hammer. One of those attacks left me with a permanent injury that doctors couldn’t fully repair.

Instead of helping us get the treatment he so desperately needed, Child Protective Services (CPS) in Wayne County, New York, failed us. On October 8, 2020, I received a call from CPS after a so-called "friend," someone I thought I could trust, made false accusations that I was abusing my son, using drugs, neglecting him, and not feeding him. None of it was true. I never used drugs. I never neglected or abused my son. The truth was simple: my son had a serious medical condition that CPS refused to recognize or address.

When I sought help during a desperate time, I was met with harsh punishment. Child Protective Services (CPS) forced me into a heart-wrenching choice: surrender my cherished son or face false criminal charges. To protect him from further trauma and avoid prison, I reluctantly gave him up in court. Although the charges were dropped, proving my innocence, it didn’t change the fact that my parental rights were violated and my son was taken from me. This betrayal left me grappling with the deep pain of losing not just my child, but also my identity as a mother.

To make matters worse, CPS failed to provide me with sign language interpreters during three different court dates, violating my rights under the ADA. They even told my parents that I could not have any contact with my son for a year, cutting me off completely. I called and left numerous messages for CPS to allow me to speak with him, but they never returned my calls. Meanwhile, my so-called “friend” — who never understood my son’s condition — spread rumors and lies about me all over Rochester. I later learned this person was connected with the foster parents and even with CPS workers, all working together to destroy my reputation and my case.

Since then, my son has been moved from home to home, experiencing between 7 and 25 different placements, without the stability and specialized help he needs. The system that was supposed to protect him has only harmed him further. I spent over $35,000 to bring him home from China, dreaming of raising him with love and giving him the support I never had as a child. Instead, I was left with grief, trauma, and a permanent injury.

I have since relocated to Minnesota with my husband, hoping to rebuild my life and start a family again one day. But deep down, I live with the fear that CPS could take away my future children, too, just as they took my son. The pain of being told I could not see or communicate with him for a year has scarred me, and to this day, I think about him constantly.

I believe with every fiber of my being that CPS, the judge, the foster parents, and the so-called friend who betrayed me all played a role in brainwashing my son against me and stealing my family. I am fighting back. I may never get my son returned because of the forced surrender, but I will not stop seeking justice. I am pursuing a lawsuit, not only for my own healing but to make them pay for the damage they caused to me, my son, and my parents — damage measured not just in money but in broken hearts, stolen years, and the destruction of a dream.

No parent should ever be compelled to give up a child due to falsehoods, bias, and a system that fails to safeguard the very children it purports to support. My battle is not solely for my own sake; it is for every family disrupted by dishonesty and neglect. I refuse to remain quiet. I will persist in speaking out until justice is achieved.