The startling toll on children who witness domestic violence is just now being understood

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Latrelle Huff says her twins were conceived by rape.

Now she blames domestic violence for her children’s health problems.

The Georgia woman says she had been in an abusive, on-and-off relationship for six years when she became pregnant. While pregnant, she says, the conflict continued. Huff spent 25 of 37 weeks on bed rest, she says, due in part to rectal bleeding her doctors said was caused by stress.

Two days after the twins were born in 2014, Huff says, the father took a swing at her. He was holding their newborn son. They were still in the hospital. Huff had just delivered by Cesarean section. “He was so angry at me because my milk wouldn’t come in,” Huff, 39, told USA TODAY.

The boy was born with “floppy baby syndrome,” a muscular condition doctors said might be attributed to abuse during pregnancy. Both children struggle with health issues, including speech disorders, and have spent months in instructional therapy to learn how to follow directions.