Court appoints trustee for baby amid anti-vaccine controversy

ISTANBUL

A court has appointed a trustee for the child of a family in the southern province of Adana after the parents refused to allow newborn screening tests, including the routine heel-prick test and vaccinations.

The case has reignited debates over parental rights and public health, particularly following a similar incident in the capital Ankara.

In Adana, the Çakmak family declined standard newborn procedures, prompting authorities to intervene. The court ruled that the child’s health interests overrode parental objections, appointing a trustee under a law that allows such measures when a legal guardian’s decisions conflict with a minor’s well-being.

Meanwhile, in Ankara, a two-month-old baby is in intensive care after suffering a brain hemorrhage, which doctors attribute to the parents’ refusal of a vitamin K injection at birth. The injection is crucial in preventing severe bleeding disorders in newborns.

The Ankara Provincial Health Directorate has filed a criminal complaint against the parents, citing neglect. Authorities had previously issued a health protection order for the child, but before medical measures could be enforced, the baby’s condition worsened, necessitating urgent hospitalization.

Experts warn that vaccine refusal and opposition to newborn screenings are on the rise.

In an interview with daily Hürriyet, Mehmet Vural, head of the Neonatology Department at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, emphasized that newborn screenings detect treatable conditions such as phenylketonuria and congenital hypothyroidism, preventing severe developmental disabilities.

He noted that vitamin K deficiency, if left unaddressed, can cause life-threatening brain hemorrhages and added that vitamin K injections are a global standard, with some European countries enforcing strict penalties for non-compliance.

Legal professionals argue that parental authority is not absolute. Lawyer Süreyya Kardelen Yarlı from the Istanbul Bar Association’s Child Rights Center stressed that Türkiye’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, along with domestic laws, justify the state’s intervention in such cases.

In a joint meeting between the Health Ministry and the Parliamentary Commission on Child Protection, officials addressed the growing parental rejection of newborn screening tests.

Yüksel Hakan Aydoğmuş, head of the Child and Adolescent Health Department, emphasized that the ministry first engages in persuasion efforts before seeking legal intervention under the Child Protection Law.

Aydoğmuş noted a fivefold increase in refusals in recent years, attributing it to misinformation. Common concerns include claims that heel-prick blood samples are sold abroad, used for genetic experiments, or that the procedure causes long-term health issues, including infertility and developmental delays. Some believe foreign entities seek “blue blood” to create elixirs or track newborns for undisclosed purposes.