Medical decisions? x-posted

[urchin_grey]

What steps would one take to prevent a non-custodial parent from making medical decisions without the permission of the custodial parent?

Back story... My sister and her BF split a few months ago. She and the baby are living here with us. She just got a subpoena stating that she must allow the baby's father visitation every other weekend until their court date to determine custody. What can she do to prevent him from having anything done to him, particularly circumcision and vaccination? The baby's father lives with his extended family who all want the baby to be vax'd and circ'd. My sister is terrified that they'll do it behind her back. They live 3 hours away so we can't just ride by every clinic in town, kwim? So what should she do?

TIA

[just_lily]

Hopefully someone comes along and gives you some good advice. That must be a very stressful situation for your friend to be in. Unfortunately I don't know about the actual legalities involved here.

Personally, I would be tempted to write "No vax or circ" on him in permanent marker every time he went for a visit with his dad.

My other thought... would the fact that the visits are only on the weekend provide some protection? Are there places to get these things done that are open on a Saturday?

[urchin_grey]

Originally Posted by just_lily

Hopefully someone comes along and gives you some good advice. That must be a very stressful situation for your friend to be in. Unfortunately I don't know about the actual legalities involved here.

Personally, I would be tempted to write "No vax or circ" on him in permanent marker every time he went for a visit with his dad.

My other thought... would the fact that the visits are only on the weekend provide some protection? Are there places to get these things done that are open on a Saturday?

Yeah, I was joking earlier that it would be awesome to get temporary tattoos that said that.

But yeah, I am hoping that they won't be able to do anything since its just the weekend. BUT, the weekend only thing is just temporary until their court date. If he's awarded joint custody, they could have the baby a week at a time. We're hoping since the baby is nursing that they won't do that to them... But he's almost 2 so I don't know if the judge is going to care about that or not.

[DocJenn]

This is NOT medical advice or legal advice....but from experience from a friend that went through the same thing......The judge won't care that your sis is breast feeding (their attitude is that the mom can pump). I would, however, see if the judge will agree that Dr. (fill - in -blank) will be the primary care doc for all well baby visits. I'd also see if there could be a stipulation that both parents have to agree to any surgery. A circ for a 2 yr old is surgery.
Good luck and I'll say a prayer....