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Botox-Giving Mom Loses Custody Of Beauty Queen Daughter
Last week, I ranted about Kerry Campbell, the mother who went on Good Morning America to defend her decision to give Botox to her 8-year-old beauty queen daughter Britany. (Read my rant here.) I felt very strongly that giving your child Botox and having her legs waxed constitutes child abuse, and I suggested that Child Protective Services should get involved. (And most of you agreed.)
Well, according to this article (and this one from The SF Chronicle), the heartbreaking but hopeful news is that they have. Britany has been taken away from her mother into CPS custody. Lara Spencer said, “I've spoken with someone very close to the case. She is out of her mother's home. She's doing well. The case is under investigation by CPS and we should have new details within a week. But the main thing here -- she's doing well."
My eyes welled up when I heard this.
How tragic that a mother would make such poor choices that she jeopardizes her own ability to be a mother?! But honestly, I think CPS should be trolling around these beauty pageants for children because, while Botox may be extreme, there’s so much damage going on in these pageants that goes much deeper than the make-up and high heels and hot rollers.
Removing a child from her home is never a good thing, and my heart goes out to little Britany. Certainly, many children have been removed from their homes with the intention of protecting them, only to have them sexually molested in foster care. Will foster care be better than Botox? It's hard to say. So although I think it's a blessing that Britany's home environment is being investigated, I'm certainly not celebrating removing this child from her home.
But perhaps the authorities will help place her with a loving foster family who will let her get dirty, scrape her knee while climbing a tree, learn to love her body just the way it is, and finally get to be a kid. And perhaps Kerry Campbell will get the professional help she needs so she can heal from whatever is making her act out and project onto her daughter in such dangerous ways. My hope is that Britany will be back home soon- hopefully with careful supervision and no more Botox or pageants.
Please join me in sending up a prayer to the Universe on Britany and Kerry’s behalf.
May they both have peace in their hearts. May they heal their wounds. And may they discover either a way to reunite with great love or move on with forgiveness. May Britany find a safe, nurturing home environment while the investigation is underway. May all children everywhere grow up knowing they are perfect, beautiful, and whole, just the way they are. And may we as mothers never forget that raising a child is an honor and privilege we must be fit to perform. May we never take for granted that we are blessed to have the opportunity to model love, compassion, and safety for our children. May we heal our own wounds, release past traumas, do our personal work, and be guided to raise whole, happy, healthy, children who grow up to raise whole, happy, healthy children.
What do you think of this? I’d love to hear your feedback.
With a heavy but hopeful heart,
Lissa
Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, Pink Medicine Woman coach, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.
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Botox injections and bikini waxes
By Bill (not verified) on Thursday, 05/19/2011 at 3:54 AMAfter San Francisco stage mom Kerry Campbell appeared on Good Morning America and Inside Edition Thursday to defend her 8-year-old daughter's Botox injections and bikini waxes. What is wrong with this lady? the girl is 8 they should stop these pageants with girls under the age of 12. Then they need to be closely monitored until the girls become 18. I do hope her daughter gets to go home or to a relative but I think the mother needs some counseling.
Thank you for addressing more
By Kristina (not verified) on Wednesday, 05/18/2011 at 10:52 AMThank you for addressing more than one side.
Hopeful
By Patrice (not verified) on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 4:28 PMI join you, Lissa, in your beautiful prayer for Kerry and her daughter. I hope that the investigation is quick, Kerry recognizes her mistake, mother and child are reunited and there are no more pageants. Ever.
Gosh, it's really hard to be a parent. [sigh]
Public service announcements
By Lissa Rankin on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 3:20 PMAnd yes, Anonymous- I love the idea of public service announcements. I take this upon myself with my daughter. Every night, we have what I call "Mommy Mojo Tips" and I teach her all the self-love and personal empowerment stuff I'd want a public service announcement to teach. As moms, it's our responsibility to instill this in our kids, I think. But sadly, there are too many kids out there who aren't getting it. Heartbreaking.
I second that, Mohrle
By Lissa Rankin on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 3:18 PMAbsolutely. This one instance is the tip of the iceberg. As Kerry said, the reason she was giving her daughter Botox is because many other moms were doing the same and Britany was complaining about her "wrinkles." It's such pack mentality- I'll do it just because she's doing it. And yes, it's uneducated and misguided, but I'm sure she thinks she's doing the right thing and I'm sure Kerry is heartbroken right now.
May they both get help and stay together. And may the whole pageant culture just stop the madness.
Encouraged
By Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 2:56 PMAm encouraged CPS responded as quickly as it did. Hopefully,intensive therapy will be made available to mother and daughter. Also hope Britany wasn't too traumatized when she was initially separated from her mother. I learned that Britany's dad had died a few years back, so she may have little or no family other than her pageant crazy mom. Hopefully, frequent supervised visitation is in place at this point.
Am hoping that this expose will bring more monitoring of the pageant industry. Don't know how parental transgressions like botox, waxing, painful hairdoos, overly intense practice sessions, will be monitored/fined/punished by removal of child from home, etc, but hopefully, Britany's story has made many pageant mothers nervous, and thinking twice about subjecting their young daughters to beauty procedures that could be construed as abusive by pageant outsiders.
Hope there will be an opportunity for public service announcements that stress the importance of children remaining children, and the risks that come with objectifying/sexualizing young children. Wish that instead of watching awful cereal commercials during Saturday morning cartoon time, that children could see and hear public service announcements that encourage children to love who they are, to learn physical imperfections are not the end of the world, and to develop authentic achievements and passions. An owning pink woman like me can dream.....right?
Thank you for bringing this critical topic to light, and for keeping the community updated.
solutions???
By mohrle (not verified) on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 2:54 PMthis has just been a very sad case all around. honestly, i don't think that kerry is a 'bad' mom, i think she loves her daughter. now, that said, i also believe that her way of trying to help her daughter succeed in life is misguided, cruel, uneducated. from what i see around me, she is not the only mom enrolling her daughter in these beauty pageants and restricting the poor child to a life of misery. yes, something had to be done to save the child, however there are thousands more out there going through this ridiculous beauty treatment, way before their years. it is for our sisters to wake up and put these pageants where they belong and set their daughters and themselves free. i pray this will happen and when it does, it will empower these women and girls. for kerry and her daughter i wish a happy and healthy life, hopefully together.
namaste
mohrle
I agree with you Amber
By Lissa Rankin on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 12:52 PMI doubt Britany will wind up in foster care. I'm just happy someone is investigating this situation. I totally agree that foster care is no picnic....
Wow.
By Amber (not verified) on Monday, 05/16/2011 at 12:40 PMHonestly, I just feel so sad for Brittany, and I hope she gets the love, attention, devotion, and childhood she deserves in whatever form it comes in.
That said-- I was married to a man that was taken away from his mother, and raised "by the system". I also had a strong desire to be a foster parent for many years and did quite a lot of reading about (foster/adopting older children) via blogs of foster/adoptive parents, caseworkers, books, etc. In most cases it isn't a flowers and sunshine ride for a child that has passed the age of "babyhood".
So, perhaps I have a more jaded view than most when I read that she has been taken from her mother. But when you hear stories of these older children being shuttled through 5-10-15-25 (yes, I'm not exaggerating) foster homes-- sometimes with their belongings just shoved into garbage sacks, no chance to say goodbye, form permanent ties at school, make friends, etc... it's hard to view it as a happy solution.
I also grant that I don't know anything about Brittany's mother's emotional state besides the fact that she is obviously too obsessed with these pageants and "beauty" (and no, I do not think an 8 year old should be given Botox). But in this case, I'm not cheering foster care either, such as the system many times, is.
I don't have the answers. But with all my heart I hope that little girl gets the love, attention, devotion, and childhood she deserves.