A military family who lost custody of their autistic son because they refused to have his gender changed is suing a major Washington, DC, hospital.
According to the family, their son never showed any desire to become a girl until he was hospitalized at the age of 16 in 2021 for self-harm following a bitter breakup with his girlfriend.
Staff at National Children’s Hospital informed the family that he wanted to be a woman and that he should henceforth be referred to by the pronouns she/her, the lawsuit states.
His parents, army veterans,from Prince George County in Maryland, rejected the proposal, saying their son was “sensitive” because of his autism.
They have accused the hospital of launching a “full-scale campaign to transgender this child” and accused staff of “mental reprogramming” and said their son was forced to write letters to friends denying his previous male identity.
Above is a photo the family shared with DailyMail.com on condition of anonymity. The eldest son is on the far left, with his mother’s arm around him in a loving embrace. Everyone is smiling and happy in the photo, after the second son graduated
The photo above shows Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC, where the boy was treated and then transferred to Child Protective Services.
According to the lawsuit, the hospital used its emergency policy to keep the boy in the unit and reported the parents to Child Protective Services.
The boy was then placed in foster care and has not been back to his parents’ home since. What followed was a two-year legal battle for custody of the teenager, who is now 19 and still in foster care.
The parents, both in their 40s and of African-American descent, say their son was at risk because his condition left him vulnerable to social manipulation.
They spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com, but wished to remain anonymous to protect the privacy of their estranged son.
The boy’s father said they had to sell their successful business and four-bedroom family home to cover legal costs.
The father said, “This has been devastating. It has cost so much money, there is no money left.
“It changed our whole way of life, with the loss of a child and then the loss of our income.”
Karl von Batten, a Republican Party committeeman in Washington, D.C., who supports the parents, said the case affected him personally because he also has an autistic son.
Mr von Batten said: ‘For me this is personal. My son is autistic and if you tell him you are a penguin, he will tell me he is a penguin.
“I am very upset about what they have done in this case, there does not seem to be any protection in place. I do not want this to happen to my son or any other child with autism.”
The family is seeking up to $100 million in damages and reimbursement of their legal fees.
The photo above shows hospital chaplain Lavender Kelley, who is believed to be currently caring for the child. The person online says he did not provide a gender
The lawsuit states that the child is currently living with the hospital’s gender-neutral chaplain, Lavender Kelley, who frequently posts online about transgender issues.
In a 2022 Facebook post, Kelley said they support letting children transition without parental consent, saying they were “tired” of arguing with their parents.
The complaint further states that since the boy moved away from his parents, he has adopted provocative and sexually suggestive poses on Instagram.
It is unclear whether the 19-year-old has undergone sex reassignment treatment, such as feminizing hormones or gender reassignment surgery.
The lawsuit, filed in Maryland state court, accused Children’s National Hospital of eight counts, including negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and religious discrimination.
It has since been sealed by a judge and is now with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In a statement, the hospital told DailyMail.com that the case had been withdrawn by the defense. Defense representatives denied this.
National Children’s Tournament is ranked the fifth best children’s hospital in the country and treats approximately 223,000 patients annually, including patients with gender dysphoria.
There is also a ‘Gender and Autism Program’, which helps young children with autism understand their gender.
Amos Jones, who represents the family, said earlier: “This is the most insane case I’ve ever had. I don’t know why people think this makes sense. But I think a lot of people agree with this now in Washington, DC.”
Ms. Kelley, pictured above, has worked at the Washington DC hospital for decades.
According to the family, their eldest son was hardworking and was initially homeschooled before being sent to high school at age 14.
A year later he graduated and was accepted into an Associate Degree program in Engineering.
In May 2021, he texted friends to say he was LGBT, but he used male pronouns and at no point indicated he wanted to be a woman.
Around this time he also underwent testing for autism and attended a counseling agency for disabled children.
In early November 2021, he was voluntarily rushed to Children’s National Hospital after attempting suicide following the end of his relationship with his girlfriend.
But after the hospital determined he had gender dysphoria, he was held there for 41 days.
It is not clear how this was determined and whether any tests or psychological assessments were carried out.
The child was then transferred to a foster home, the complaint states, where the child was placed with a single foster mother who had previously been charged with abuse and who was reportedly a close friend of Ms. Kelley.
In July 2022, the boy attempted suicide for the second time and was readmitted to the orphanage as a girl.
He also underwent a second autism evaluation in August, but during that meeting the foster mother removed him, which the lawsuit claims was unnecessary.
The foster mother subsequently died unexpectedly and the boy was reportedly handed over to Ms. Kelley, according to the complaint.
In March 2023, he turned 18. He is now an adult and does not have to go back to his parents if he does not want to.
In court documents, his parents accused the hospital of a “cruel, abrupt and deliberate violation of the fundamental rights of two fit parents to raise their minor son.”
‘[We] never knew about it [our] “My son’s alleged desire or plan to change his gender,” the documents state.
‘Instead of treating [us] as guardians of law and dignity, the defendant… treated the parents as if they had harmed their son, even though the parents had never endangered their child and had educated him at home so that he could enter college at the age of fourteen.’
They added: ‘At Children’s National it is as if all critical reasoning regarding the child has been suspended and no investigation has been made into the extent to which the child has lied.’
The parents have requested a jury trial.
