“Marginalized”, “powerless”, living in the “Twilight Zone”.
The parents of a trans teenager living in Geneva used these words to describe how they have lived in shock and fear for the past 19 months after their then 15-year-old daughter was removed from their home by court order. justice following their objections to giving him puberty. blockers.
Today, they are fighting under the threat of criminal prosecution to preserve his identity and prevent him from making potentially irreversible changes to his body.
“This is not a human rights issue,” the father told Fox News Digital. “It’s about conducting medical experiments on children.”
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The parents of the 16-year-old girl – who wish to remain anonymous to preserve their family’s privacy – say they have fought back against institutional powers that have accused them of parental abuse for their refusal to give their daughter optional care.
Parents separated from their teenage daughter by court decision after objecting to her use of puberty blockers, July 19, 2024. (ADF International)
The tumultuous journey began when the young girl sat her parents down in 2021 and told them she identified as a boy.
“It was an absolute surprise. She was 13 at the time and she had never before demonstrated any penchant for masculinity or a propensity for masculine behavior,” the father explained.
The father – who said he and his daughter had always been very close – explained how she came to this conclusion after a difficult time for their family after his job initially took him abroad for several years, then the coronavirus pandemic hit.
The pandemic forced the closure of schools, leading to increased isolation for children around the world and considerable time spent online.
“We told our daughter, ‘Well, it’s a surprise, but we’ll listen to you and we’ll seek medical advice. We’ll all learn together and make decisions together,'” he said.
On the recommendation of their child’s pediatrician, they took their daughter to the public children’s hospital in Geneva, where she was shown a “gender unicorn” and asked to identify with different aspects of the image , after which it was determined that she was “probably suffering from gender dysphoria.”
Against the parents’ wishes, the school their child attended began social transitioning their daughter and connected her with a transgender rights organization. (Getty Images)
The director of the department then met with the parents and explained to them that the hospital was conducting “rigorous research” around the issue of gender identity and that their daughter would undergo a “full and serious assessment” .
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The advice was to “support her in her identity” by allowing her to cut her hair, dress like a boy, and wear headbands if that’s what she wanted.
“And so, at first, we did that. We followed the medical advice,” the father said.
However, after seeing a psychiatrist at the hospital for a few months, the parents were told that the next step for their daughter would be to start using hormone blockers – a medication that prevents body changes associated with puberty, as breast growth.
“We’re not at the stage where we’re going to give our daughter medication,” he said, reflecting on their response to the psychiatrist.
“We could see in our interaction with the hospital that no serious medical evaluation had been done. It was simply, well, your daughter pointed out these things about the gender unicorn, and therefore, it “It’s a boy because she says so,” he added, noting that they later consulted a private psychiatrist.
In response to questions from Fox News Digital, Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) said it could not comment on individual cases, but said that in cases of gender dysphoria the hospital works “to promote dialogue between child and his parents.
The hospital spokesperson, Nicolas de Saussure, also declared that “HUG does not push any patient towards a legal or medical transition but supports them in their individual journey according to their values and preferences by referring to existing scientific data and with international recommendations. “.
According to the statement sent to Fox News Digital, the hospital has hosted approximately 100 minors with gender dysmorphia, approximately half of whom began hormone treatment after turning 16.
However, the father described a sense of frustration over what the parents saw as a lack of adequate medical care and support for their daughter and their family – a frustration that marked only the beginning of what would become a long journey. and arduous as they struggled. to maintain their parental rights.
“Billboard Chris” is an international activist known for carrying a sandwich board reading “children cannot consent to puberty blockers” on July 19, 2024. (ADF International)
Against the parents’ wishes, the private school their child attended began “socially transitioning” their daughter and connected her with a transgender rights organization.
When their daughter was 15, a school psychologist – whom she consulted in addition to the private psychiatrist hired by her parents – contacted the Swiss Child Protection Agency (SPMI) and claimed that the minor needed of protection from her “transphobic” parents following their continued objection to puberty blockers.
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“The school facilitated meetings between our daughter and [the transgender advocacy agency]and our daughter and SPMI – not only without our knowledge, but fraudulently because they were marking her absence form as if she was doing school activities,” he told Fox News Digital. “We discovered more late that she didn’t do it. She wasn’t at school to meet [the transgender advocacy group] and meeting with the SPMI.”
The school, which Fox News Digital did not name to preserve the family’s anonymity, rejected the accusation that it had done anything untoward and said: “The school respects Swiss law and complies with the decisions of child protection authorities.
“We refute all allegations suggesting otherwise,” a school official added, although questions about how the child was reported absent were not directly answered.
Ultimately, based on alleged mental and physical health problems, a Swiss court ruled that their daughter should be placed in a social services-supervised home, known as a “foyer” – where the girl, now now aged 16, stayed for more than a year. .
“International law states that a child should not be separated from their parents against their will, except in cases of abuse,” ADF International legal advisor Dr. Felix Boellmann said in a statement.
The father told Fox News Digital that he and his legal team still don’t know what abuse was identified to allow them to remove his daughter from her home.
In response to questions from Fox News Digital, Swiss authorities in the Republic and Canton of Geneva said they would not comment on “individual situations” but provided a broad response to the Swiss legal system.
“The SPMI respects parental authority, unless the exercise of this authority endangers the child concerned, in which case it is up to the judge to decide on the best interests of the child,” declared the communications officer . » declared Constance Chaix. “No child is taken from their parents due to ‘lack of consent to transition’.”
“No child is placed for lack of consent or opposition to treatment,” Chaix clarified.
A series of battles ensues as the parents desperately try to maintain a relationship with their daughter and bring her home.
But as their daughter gets older, the harder the fight becomes.
A girl holds the transgender pride flag during a pride march in Madrid, Spain. (Luis Soto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In Switzerland, minors are legally allowed to change their name and registered gender at the age of 16, which his parents fear could make his physical transition much easier.
“We have met too many other parents and children who have been victims and who now regret the situation they find themselves in in life. And we are faced with these institutions,” he said, referring to the court , at school and at SPMI. , which he said failed to take an evidence-based approach when it came to minors suffering from gender dysphoria.
“Our tendency was not only, of course, to follow the doctor’s advice, but LGBTQI – everyone – we support that,” he continued. “But as we began to educate ourselves about gender identity, we began to understand that it was not about sexual orientation, but about cosmetic surgery, hormones and other sort of Frankenstein-type experiments on children.”
The father said the Swiss education system places trans children on a “pedestal to somehow be braver”, which influences hasty solutions like puberty blockers that could have lasting consequences.
The effects of hormone blockers are believed to be reversible, although government institutions like the UK’s National Institute of Health have noted the limited amount of research into their use in children and the unknown long-term effects they may have. on physical development such as bone density or reproductive health. .
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“We [need to] start making decisions based on facts and evidence rather than radical and harmful ideology,” Fr. “This is not a human rights issue. This involves carrying out medical experiments on children.
“I want her to come home so we can get her back on track,” he said. “For his own well-being and that of his entire family.”
