A member of the boy band Union J accused his ex-girlfriend of exaggerating their five-year-old son's rare brain condition because she is suffering with Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Jamie 'JJ' Hamblett raised concerns that the mother of his son Princeton, former model Caterina Andorfer Lopez, may be mentally ill as the couple have been embroiled in a bitter custody battle since their split in 2015.
The 30-year-old singer's concerns led New York City's Administration for Children's Services to suspend Princeton's brain surgery for six months pending an investigation into Lopez.
However, there is no indication that any of the doctors consulting on Princeton's case had suspected that the mother was acting against her son's best interest, according to Lopez and hospital records she provided to NBC News.
Jamie 'JJ' Hamblett of the boy band Union J accused his ex-girlfriend Caterina Lopez of exaggerating their five-year-old son Princeton's rare brain condition and alleged that she may be suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The family are pictured together in November 2015 just before Hamblett and Lopez split
Princeton was diagnosed with a rare brain condition called Chiari malformation in February 2017. He was due to undergo a third surgery last October when New York City's Administration for Children's Services launched an investigation into Lopez
Hamblett, above with his son in the hospital, claimed to have overheard a doctor saying that Princeton's surgery 'wasn't necessary' and contacted officials about his concerns
According to a hospital report from October 4, 2018, Hamblett overheard a doctor saying that Princeton's surgery 'wasn't necessary'.
The operation to treat his Chiari malformation, a condition that causes part of the brain to push into the spinal cord and that can cause pain, numbness, headaches and weakness, was the boy's third since he first exhibited symptoms in early 2017.
In another report prepared by a clinical ethicist at the hospital quotes the father as saying: 'It's like she wants my son to be ill.'
Munchausen by Proxy is a condition where an adult will invent medical conditions for his or her child so that they can get attention or sympathy.
A dangerous facet of this is how they will often induce symptoms in the child to better illustrate the lie.
Munchausen by Proxy is typically considered a severe form of child abuse.
Munchausen Syndrome is when a person will invent their own ailment or illness for sympathy or attention.
Both are mental disorders.
ACS documents state that it was Hamblett who first suggested that Lopez may have Munchausen by proxy, a disorder in which caretakers exaggerate or induce illness in a child for attention and sympathy.
An ACS report from October 5 alleged that Lopez 'misrepresented information that she gave the hospital regarding Princeton's father', who claimed that he had not consented to his son's surgery.
The report said that while Princeton was suffering from Chiari malformation, Lopez 'has been making up symptoms and this raised red flags' with the boy's doctors in Arizona, where he was initially diagnosed.
'That is not to say Princeton did not need brain surgery, however there is a way that BM [birth mother] is portraying Princeton's illness online and the things she is saying is getting her things such as free trips,' the report stated.
'BM has been making Princeton seem extremely ill but he is not as sick as BM makes him out to be.'
The agency's investigation resulted in Princeton's expected October 10 surgery being delayed until April 8.
Lopez said of Hamblett: 'The minute he called and started saying these
