Parents of Geneva "transgender" child / ADF International
CV NEWS FEED // The parents of a teenage girl in Switzerland are fighting a legal battle to regain custody of their daughter after the Swiss government removed her from her family to encourage her to pursue “gender transition treatment.”
The parents, who have remained anonymous to protect their family and safety, are represented by Alliance Defending Freedom International.
According to a news release from ADF International, the couple said their daughter first claimed to be a boy in 2021, when she was 13 years old. She had previously experienced other mental health issues and had spent the COVID-19 pandemic alone in her room online.
“We understood that she was going through a difficult period in her life,” the parents told ADF International. “We agreed to seek medical advice.”
They took her to the hospital, where she was shown the “gender unicorn” diagram created by Trans Student Educational Resources. Doctors told her parents that she may be experiencing “gender dysphoria” and suggested puberty blockers.
Her parents believe that no one is born in the wrong body and people cannot transition from one sex to the other. They subsequently rejected the puberty blockers and took their daughter to a private mental health professional instead.
The issue escalated shortly afterward when their daughter’s school began to “socially transition” her by using a male name.
“We were very clear with the school that we did not believe that it was up to the school to socially transition our daughter,” the father said.
“We learned that the school psychologist was getting in and was feeding my daughter with materials putting her in contact with Le Refuge,” the mother added.
Le Refuge is a transgender advocacy organization. After the parents objected to the school’s actions, the school involved the state child welfare agency, which eventually led to a meeting where the parents were accused of abusing their daughter in seeking alternative care and refusing the puberty blockers.
In April 2023, a court order took the daughter away from her parents and placed her in a government-funded youth shelter. Authority over her medical treatment has now been transferred to the state, meaning that she may be able to “transition.”
The parents appealed the order but failed to regain authority over their daughter’s medical care.
“I can’t believe we live in a society where your child can be taken away from you simply for trying to protect her,” the parents told ADF International.
Le Refuge and the child welfare agency convinced the daughter that the mental health professional she had been seeing was a “transphobe” and the daughter ended her treatment immediately.
In February 2024, another court order demanded that the parents hand over documents that would allow their daughter to legally register as male. They refused and appealed the court order. While their case continues, the parents have decided to go public with their story.
“It’s really out of this pain and this desperation that we have decided there’s really no other option but to speak up,” the father told ADF, adding:
The Swiss government essentially took our daughter away from us… we don’t want to see other families in this situation. There’s no one else beyond parents who will ever bring and cultivate the love that the children need to be the best they can be, to go on and not only fulfill their dreams but to create their own families in the future.
The parents also told ADF that “we would do anything to protect our children from harm.”
“We love them and want to raise them to be honest, kind, and self-confident adults—both our daughter and our son, each in their own way,” the parents continued:
But right now, our daughter is still a minor, and she rightfully belongs in our home where we can help her navigate through life’s struggles in a way that is best for her long-term health and happiness.”
Dr. Felix Boellmann, the lead lawyer on the case, stated in the news release that the parents are “living every parent’s worst nightmare.”
“Their child has been taken away from them simply for trying to protect her from harm,” he said. “The implications of this are devastating not only for them as a family, but also for all of society. No society can claim to be free if parents can lose their daughter solely for affirming biological reality.”
According to ADF International, Finland, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, and other countries no longer generally endorse “gender affirmative treatment,” recognizing its ideological bias and the irreversible harm caused by it.
However, British women’s rights activist and transgender critic Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull told ADF International that she has heard stories in countries like the U.S., Canada, and Australia similar to the one unfolding in Switzerland.
According to Dr. Boellmann, the Swiss government’s actions are in violation of both national and international law, as the laws hold that a child cannot be separated from his or her parents against their will except in cases of abuse.
“Not only have these parents committed no wrong, they absolutely must have their child returned home and are under no obligation to consent to the authority’s demands to allow dangerous medical interventions,” Dr. Boellmann stated, adding:
Switzerland must act now to restore this child to her parents and address the egregious overstepping on the part of the school, hospital, and child welfare agency that allowed this nightmare scenario to unfold.
