Help Us Tell Mel’s Story: How a Daughter Was Taken and a Family Destroyed

We are raising funds to write and publish a powerful true story that exposes how one decision by New Zealand’s child protection system changed a family forever.

Mel was a successful mother whose 13-year-old daughter was removed on the recommendation of a single counsellor whose own background should have raised serious questions. What followed was not protection, but tragedy.

By 14, Mel’s daughter was pregnant. She later became trapped in addiction. A promising young life spiralled, while a mother spent decades fighting grief, bureaucracy, and silence.

This is more than one family’s heartbreak. It is a story about unchecked power, poor decisions, and the devastating consequences when systems fail the very children they are meant to protect.

We have evidence, documents, and lived testimony. Now we need help to turn this into a compelling book that can reach the public, spark debate, and ensure these stories are no longer buried.

Your support will help fund writing, editing, research, legal review, publishing, and promotion. If we don’t reach the target we will use funds towards stated objective. Writer, researcher, editor and publishing.

If this happened to Mel, it could happen to anyone.

Project Budget Breakdown

Research Services

200 hours @ $40/hr: $8,000

Freelance Writing

450 total hours (30 hrs/chapter for 15 chapters) @ $55/hr: $24,750

Editing

130 hours (covering two rounds) @ $65/hr: $8,450

Legal Fees

Legal checks and professional services: $3,500

Publishing & Distribution

50 physical copies for libraries and reviewers @ $30/copy: $1,500

Promotions

Advertising and marketing costs: $3,000

Please help us bring this story into the light.