SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla.

A vegan mother who had her newborn son taken from her several months ago after he began losing weight has him back

On Wednesday, a Seminole County judge told Sarah Markham that she would get custody of her son Caleb, with the provision that she provide a nutritionist's report within 10 days.

Markham was arrested in June when her son was less than two weeks old. He had lost 10 percent of his body weight. A doctor said Caleb was failing to thrive and told Markham to take her child to a hospital.

Rather than taking the boy to the hospital, Markham wanted to try supplementing breast milk with vegan formula.

"There's no case, there's no abuse, there's no neglect, there's simply a doctor who has been challenged by a mother and he didn't like it," said Bo Markham, Caleb's grandfather.

The judge agreed, throwing out Seminole County Child Protective Services' claim that Sarah Markham was not fit to care for the child.

Attorney Mark O'Mara said he expects the criminal case against the mother to be thrown out as well.

"My hope is that they'll simply dismiss it and not go forward on this at all," said O'Mara.

Caleb stayed with grandparents after being removed from his mother's care and now weighs 17 pounds.

Original post:
Vegan mom arrested over unhealthy newborn has son returned to her

Sarah Markham's baby was taken away from her in June because she didn't take her baby to the hospital when he was losing weight She wanted to supply the baby with vegan formula instead of breast milk to see if would help the baby gain any weight before going to the hospital Markham is a Christian Seventh-day Adventist and holistic healing is in her system of beliefs

By Alexandra Klausner for MailOnline

Published: 10:05 EST, 12 November 2014 | Updated: 11:57 EST, 12 November 2014

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A Florida mother is fighting for custody of her son - after he was taken into care by state officials who feared her vegan diet would harm the boy's health.

Sarah Markham of Orlando's baby was taken away from her at the age of 12 days in June after she refused to take her to hospital when he began to lose weight.

Instead, she told police that she wanted to feed her baby a vegan formula.

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Vegan mom fights for custody of son over plan to give him vegan formula

A mother accused of refusing to feed her underweight newborn formula was given back custody of her baby on Wednesday.

Sarah Markham was arrested in August on child neglect charges because she didn't want to feed the baby the formula the doctor gave her, citing her vegan beliefs, according to authorities.

Markham said the formula the doctor recommended to her had animal byproducts and wanted a vegan option.

According to Casselberry police, a pediatrician told Markham that her baby needed to be admitted to Florida Hospital South for treatment because he was dehydrated and was losing weight. She was arrested at her home in August, and the baby was given vegan formula at the hospital.

In a Department of Children and Families hearing on Wednesday, she received custody of her baby, and in a few days, the complaint should be dismissed, according to Markham's attorney, Mark O'Mara.

Markham will be back in court next week on child neglect charges.

"After more than five months of fighting DCF, Sarah can still not be with her child unsupervised," O'Mara wrote in a post on his website. "The babys father put his job in jeopardy to make important court dates. Their lives have been turned upside down, and now we have to focus our attention on defending Sarah against the pending criminal charges. That is disgusting."

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Vegan mom gets back custody of baby, still facing criminal charges