Six adults speak out after forced care over Münchhausen by proxy suspicions

At least 60 children in Sweden have been forcibly taken into care since 2012 after healthcare authorities suspected their parents of Münchhausen syndrome by proxy, according to an investigation by Swedish Radio’s Ekot. Six of those children, now adults, have come forward to describe painful separations, isolation, and feeling unheard.

In all six cases reviewed by Ekot, the individuals deny any abuse by their parents. Many of the children had been seriously ill—premature, with rare diagnoses, eating disorders, or neuropsychiatric conditions. Their parents had often pushed for more treatment, while healthcare providers grew suspicious of them fabricating or prolonging illness.

Hospitals’ child protection teams in several cases recommended severe restrictions or no contact at all with parents. Some of the now-adult children say they never understood why.

Ekot found that two doctors were involved in multiple cases, their interpretations helping to broaden the application of Münchhausen by proxy in Swedish child protection practice despite weak scientific support. Neither has conducted research in the field. One, a consultant hired as an expert, maintains the goal was to protect children but acknowledges the need for more research.

In most of the cases where children spoke in court, they said they wanted to go home. Social services, commenting on one case, stated they had a duty to protect children and that repeated concerns from healthcare had to be taken seriously, acknowledging that the individual may have found the investigation and placement very difficult.

Münchhausen by proxy in its narrowest sense—where an adult deliberately induces or fabricates symptoms in a child—is extremely rare. A UK study found no deaths linked to the syndrome between 2010 and 2022, nor any cases of serious harm directly attributable to parental actions. Controversy arises from broader interpretations, where suspicion may be based on frequent medical visits, seeking second opinions, or differing interpretations of symptoms without evidence of deliberate harm.

In Sweden, the term Barnmisshandel genom sjukvårdsinsatser (BMSI) is used, defined in professional guidelines as a spectrum from excessive parental concern to life-threatening symptom induction. The knowledge portal Barnfrid, aimed at social services and healthcare, includes cases where a guardian’s anxiety, overreporting, or misinterpretation leads to repeated medical contacts and unnecessary treatments.