News

Actions

Michigan doctor refuses to treat same-sex couple’s baby

Posted at 12:30 PM, Feb 19, 2015
and last updated 2015-02-19 12:59:54-05

ROSEVILLE, Mich. — A Michigan same-sex couplesays a doctor refused to treat their now-4-month-old baby Bay.

Krista and Jami Contreras first met Dr. Vesna Roi in September before Bay was born, and said they were initially happy with her.

“We were really happy with her,” Krista told FOX 2. “The kind of care she offered, we liked her personality, she seemed pretty friendly.  She seemed pretty straight up with us.”

Krista and Jami were told to make an appointment with Dr. Roi after Bay was born, and they took the infant into Eastlake Pediatrics when she was 6 days old.

However, instead of seeing Dr. Roi, a different doctor was there.

“The first thing Dr. Karam said was ‘I’ll be your doctor.  I’ll be seeing you today because Dr. Roi decided this morning that she prayed on it and she won’t be able to care for Bay,” Jami told FOX 2.

Jami added that they were told Dr. Roi didn’t come to the office at all that morning because she didn’t want to see the couple.

“It was embarrassing. It was humiliating, and here we are, new parents trying to protect her, and we know this happens in the world and we’re completely prepared for this to happen other places.  But not at our six-day-old’s wellness appointment,” Jami said.

According to FOX 2, the couple went through with the appointment with Dr. Karam and then found a different pediatric group for Bay.

Jami and Krista shared their story on social media, and nearly four months later they received a letter from Dr. Roi.

The Feb. 9 letter reads, in part:

“After much prayer following your prenatal, I felt that I would not be able to develop the personal patient-doctor relationships that I normally do with my patients.  We do not keep prenatal information once we have our meetings so I had no way to contact you. “

Dr. Roi then apologizes, writing that she should have spoken to the couple on the day of the wellness appointment and adding “…I believe God gives us free choice and I would never judge anyone based on what they do with that free choice.”

Dr. Roi declined to comment to FOX 2.

Read more at FOX 2